Reports of fatalities in minibus bombing outside Damascus were mistaken, Syria says

A Syrian official says 14 people were wounded in a minibus bombing on the outskirts of Damascus yesterday, but that initial reports of fatalities were mistaken.

Officials had said yesterday that two people were killed in the blast. The health ministry’s head of media, Riad al-Sayed Hasan, told Reuters that the assessment was based on the discovery of body parts at the scene, which turned out to be those of some of the people severely wounded.

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.

Authorities have not blamed anyone for the attack, which took place in an area where there have been clashes between the Druze and Islamist militants backing the authorities that took over after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in 2024.