Bomb planted on minibus kills two near Damascus, Syrian officials say

A bomb planted in a minibus killed two people and wounded 14 others on the outskirts of Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday night, officials say.

The blast occurred in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana, outside Damascus. A security source tells the state-run Ekhbariya TV that the blast was caused by an explosive device planted on the vehicle, citing preliminary information.

Footage from the scene showed the blown-up husk of a white minibus being dragged away from the site of the blast.

Jaramana resident Samer Abbas was meters away in his clothing store when the explosion went off. A piece of shrapnel hit the storefront.

His son, who had been sitting outside, was the first thing that came to Abbas’s mind. Fearing the worst, Abbas says he could not rest until he confirmed his son was safe.

Over at the Mujtahid Hospital in Damascus, Bassel Imad says the bombing was “sadistic.” His cousin Safouh was driving the vehicle that exploded and lay injured.

The targeted street in Jaramana is somewhat narrow and includes shops and street vendors, Imad said, as people clamored around him.

Factions within Syria’s Druze community have clashed with the country’s new Islamist leadership. A UN investigation in March found more than 1,700 people, most of them civilian members of the Druze religious sect and some members of the Bedouin community, were killed in the southern Sweida province in July 2025.

It said Syrian government forces, tribal fighters and Druze armed groups may ​have committed war crimes.