Eighteen people have been injured by two bomb explosions in central Damascus during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Syrian government has said.
The blasts happened near the Four Seasons hotel, where Macron spent the night and met civil society groups on Tuesday morning.
The Syrian interior ministry said security forces detected two explosive devices in a parked car and a bin, which blew up as specialists began the process of defusing them, state news agency Sana reported.
French officials said Macron was safe and did not hear the explosions. Shortly afterwards, he held talks with his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, at the presidential palace.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but a spokesman for Syria's interior ministry said that "an initial lead pointing to those who are responsible" had been discovered.
The incident has underscored the major security challenges the authorities in Syria continue to face and overshadowed the first visit to the country by an EU leader since the fall of the Assad regime in 2024.
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2eylx1jj9ko
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