Two bombs exploded yesterday near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron spent the night, wounding 18 people and overshadowing the first visit to Syria by a European Union head of state since Bashar al-Assad was toppled.
Macron, whose motorcade left the hotel shortly before the blasts, pressed ahead with his visit, meeting President Ahmed Al Sharaa at the presidential palace. His office said he had not heard the blasts.
The attack underlined lingering security challenges facing Al Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda commander who has built close ties with Western states as he has sought to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.
The explosions struck a busy area of Damascus between the Tourism Ministry and the national museum across the street from the Four Seasons hotel, where a source in Macron’s delegation and Syrian security sources said he had spent the night and had met civil society groups yesterday morning.
Posting on X just after the blasts, Macron said his visit continued and praised the “dignity, courage and determination” of Syrians he had met.
“We are not naive about the risks, but they are being managed,” Macron said later in a news conference with Al Sharaa. “Certain groups” sought to prevent “Syria’s full and complete reintegration into the international community”, he added.
Macron also said France was working to redefine its security and military co-operation with Syria, including the potential support of French special forces to fight the Islamic State, which has claimed several attacks on Syrian forces this year.
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