Syria captures ISIS-linked cell involved in ‘terrorist bombings’ during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus | Today’s news
Syrian authorities claimed on Thursday that an ISIS-linked cell behind two bomb blasts during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus earlier this week had been captured.
In a post on X, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab said: “The cell responsible for the terrorist bombings that targeted Damascus two days ago is now in our custody. He indicated that an investigation is underway to investigate the nature of the problem and obtain concrete evidence, adding: “Once the investigation is complete, we will reveal to the public the identities of the cell members, their roles and all their affiliations and connections.”
Two explosions hit central Damascus on Tuesday morning, moments before Syrian state media announced the arrival of the French president at the presidential palace to meet his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa. The explosions of two bombs injured 18 people and killed one, Reuters reported.
The explosions occurred near the Four Seasons Hotel, where the French president spent the night and met with civil society groups on Tuesday morning. According to the Syrian Interior Ministry, its security forces located two explosive devices, but the explosions occurred before they could defuse them. According to the state news agency Sana, the process of disposing of them was underway when the explosions occurred.
The head of internal security for the Damascus region, Ahmad al-Dalati, provided more details about the explosion, which overshadowed the first visit by a European Union head of state to Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2024. He said in a televised address that preliminary investigations indicated that “the cell was linked to the IS (Islamic State) group.”
“We managed to track down one member of the cell responsible for the bombings in Damascus on July 7, and by tracking him we identified the rest of the group’s members,” Ahmad al-Dalati told Syrian state television Ekhbariya TV, Reuters quoted him as saying.
According to a statement from the Interior Ministry, the cell behind the explosions was caught after a series of raids “carried out simultaneously against various suspected locations in Damascus and its countryside”. Security agencies raided four neighborhoods, two of which have populations from the Alawite minority of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad, the statement said.
At a joint press conference after the blast, Macron reiterated Paris’ support for the country, saying we must not “let ourselves be destabilized” by such attacks. Notably, it was Macron’s first visit to Syria, coming nearly a year after Syria joined the US-led coalition against Islamic State.
