Bombing at Damascus Café Claims Six Lives, 22 Injured

Mon Sep 14 2026 04:17:22 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

A bomb exploded inside a crowded café near the Palace of Justice, killing at least six and wounding 22, the deadliest blast in Damascus since last year.

In the early hours of Thursday, an explosive device detonated inside a café in central Damascus, killing six people and leaving 22 wounded. The blast occurred just 100 metres from the Palace of Justice and has not yet been claimed by any group. Authorities are treating it as a terror attack, echoing the violence that has plagued the city since the regime takeover in late 2024. The incident marks the most lethal attack in the capital in roughly a year.

Bombing at Damascus Café Claims Six Lives, 22 Injured

In the early hours of Thursday, an explosive device detonated inside a bustling café in central Damascus, killing at least six people and leaving 22 others wounded. Authorities say the blast occurred just 100 metres (330 feet) from the Palace of Justice, one of the capital’s key government buildings.

The interior ministry confirmed the bomb was planted within the café’s premises. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, making it one of the most recent acts of violence to hit the city since the regime’s takeover of the country in late 2024.

The incident is the most deadly bombing in Damascus since the June 2025 suicide attack on a church that killed 25 people. While the attack was linked to a shadowy jihadist group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, officials suspect the Islamic State group may be involved.

Local residents recalled the terror of civilians during the civil war era. Mohammed al‑Dahabi, the owner of a nearby glasses shop, described the blast as reminiscent of wartime attacks.

"I felt strong pressure and the whole place shook. I ran to the place and saw people lying on the floor with blood pooled around them," he told the AFP news agency.

Footage posted to social media showed at least two men lying motionless on the café’s outdoor terrace. "The blast was unimaginable," one eyewitness wrote in a comment thread.

Damascus Governor Maher Marwan Idlibi condemned the attack and vowed that “those responsible for the bloodshed will be punished.” He stressed that “every time the country sees a period of stability, malicious parties try to destabilise it.”

The assault adds to a series of deadly sectarian and terrorist acts that have plagued Syria since the departure of the previous regime. Interim President Ahmed al‑Sharaa has struggled to consolidate control and restore security in the capital.

The city’s residents are now grappling with a new wave of fear, as drivers of grief and humiliation mirror the chaotic environment of late‑2010s civil war.