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Several explosions were reported in central Damascus on Tuesday after explosive devices detonated near the hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying during his official trip to Syria, according to local reports.
Syrian authorities said 18 people, including four police officers, were wounded in the blasts. The cause of the explosions was not immediately disclosed.
Local sources cited by Reuters indicated that one bomb had been hidden inside a minibus and another in a garbage container along one of the Syrian capital's busiest streets.
Macron was at the Presidential Palace for talks with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa when the explosions occurred near his accommodation, according to the report.
The Elysee Palace confirmed the French leader was safe and said his official visit would continue as planned. According to the French presidency, Macron was holding talks with al-Sharaa and their delegations before a scheduled one-on-one meeting between the two leaders.
The blasts came less than a week after a bomb attack at a cafe near the Palace of Justice on the road to Hamidiye Market killed 10 people and wounded 21 others on July 2.
Macron arrived in Syria on Monday, becoming the first Western European head of state to visit the country since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. The visit came about a year after al-Sharaa traveled to France in May 2025 for his first official trip to a Western country since taking office.
French President's talks with al-Sharaa focused on political transition, reconstruction, regional security, and expanding bilateral ties. The two leaders later toured the historic Umayyad Mosque and Damascus' UNESCO-listed Old City before al-Sharaa hosted the French delegation for dinner.
Macron also became the first French president to visit Syria in nearly 18 years. The previous trip was made by Nicolas Sarkozy in September 2008, as Paris sought to end its diplomatic isolation of Damascus following the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Macron is due to travel to Ankara next for the NATO leaders' summit, where allies are expected to focus on defense spending, military production, support for Ukraine and broader regional security, alongside a series of bilateral meetings.
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