Deadly bombing hits Damascus cafe near Palace of Justice, 6 killed

A bomb exploded in a cafe on al-Nasser Street in central Damascus at about 3:24 p.m. local time, killing at least six people and wounding 22 others near the Palace of Justice, a major government building. Syrian state media said the blast was caused by an explosive device planted inside the cafe.

No group immediately claimed responsibility. Authorities opened an investigation as security forces gathered at the scene in the al-Marjah district, where the attack struck a crowded commercial stretch close to key judicial and government institutions.

The blast landed in an area that has been tightly watched since Syria’s new authorities began trying to reassert control after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. Damascus has seen relatively few attacks since the end of the civil war, which made the bombing in such a sensitive central location stand out even more sharply.

The attack was described as one of the deadliest in Damascus since a suicide bombing at a church in June 2025. The location added to the impact: al-Nasser Street sits in the heart of the capital, not on a front line or in a peripheral neighborhood, but beside a court complex that draws civilians, lawyers and government workers every day.

The explosion also underscored how ordinary life in Damascus remains exposed to sudden violence despite official efforts to stabilize the city. A cafe is a place of routine and public mingling, and the choice of target, or the decision to place an explosive device there, turned a familiar urban space into a site of mass casualties in seconds.

The blast left investigators with immediate questions about who carried it out, how the device was planted and whether the target was chosen for its symbolic proximity to the Palace of Justice. Until those questions are answered, the bombing stands as a stark measure of the security risks that still shadow Syria’s capital.