Weapons Depot Explodes Near Damascus, No Injuries Reported

By Staff, Agencies

An explosion was heard early Saturday in the Dumayr area of the Damascus countryside, Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya TV reported, while other outlets reported a separate fire in the village of al-Shajarah west of the capital. Civil Defense teams were dispatched to the scene.

Al-Ikhbariya later reported that the Dumayr blast resulted from the detonation of a munitions depot that had been scheduled for destruction. The explosion caused only material damage, with no injuries reported.

The incident is part of a recurring pattern across several Syrian provinces since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. A number of similar explosions, linked to aging or unstable weapons stockpiles left amid the collapse of the former military infrastructure, have caused deaths and injuries.

Earlier this week, a far deadlier blast struck a temporary weapons storage site near Sarmada in Idlib province, killing at least 14 people and wounding 11, according to Syria’s Health Ministry.

The Defense Ministry said the Burj al-Nimra site stored weapons and war remnants from the 2011–2024 conflict before their planned transfer elsewhere, adding that some of its personnel were among those wounded.

Successive explosions sent thick smoke over the area for hours and complicated firefighting efforts, while authorities did not disclose what triggered the initial blast. A mechanic working nearby, Ahmad Faour, said residents first heard a small explosion before a larger blast followed.

The Sarmada incident came after another deadly ammunition explosion on September 1, when a vehicle carrying munitions exploded in Binnish, also in Idlib, claiming five lives and wounding others.