A bomb planted inside a crowded cafe in central Damascus killed at least six people and wounded 22 others on Thursday afternoon, in what authorities described as a deliberate terrorist attack. The explosion occurred at a cafe on Al-Nasr Street in the Hejaz district, just 100 metres from the Palace of Justice, a major government building in the Syrian capital, during the busy afternoon rush hour. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Syria's interior ministry confirmed that initial investigations identified the cause as a homemade explosive device weighing approximately one kilogram, packed with metal fragments to maximise casualties. Forensic teams cordoned off the site, reviewed CCTV footage, and collected witness statements. Security forces quickly secured the perimeter, preventing civilians from approaching the scene. Damascus Governor Maher Marwan Idlibi visited the site and pledged accountability: "This case will not be filed against persons unknown — those who shed this blood will be punished." He also dismissed the attack as an attempt at "distraction," saying Syria was on a path of recovery across multiple fronts. Authorities ruled out reports that the blast was the result of a suicide bombing.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and panic. Nour Khayyat, 40, who owns a solar-panel battery shop near the site, said he heard a powerful blast at around 3pm local time and watched his storefront shudder. Mohammed al-Dahabi, who runs a glasses shop directly next to the targeted cafe, said the explosion brought back memories of the bombings Damascus endured during Syria's civil war, which lasted nearly 14 years and killed an estimated half a million people. "I ran to the place and saw people lying on the floor with blood pooled around them everywhere," he told reporters, trembling.

Thursday's attack is the deadliest in Damascus since a suicide bombing at a church in the Dweilaa neighbourhood in June 2025 killed 25 people — an attack claimed by a shadowy Sunni Islamist group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, though Syrian authorities attributed it to the Islamic State. The latest blast comes just one day after interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced 70 newly appointed legislators who will join 140 already selected, forming Syria's first parliament since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The 210-seat body is due to hold its inaugural session on Monday.

The bombing poses a significant challenge to Syria's transitional authorities, who have spent the past months rebuilding security institutions and asserting central control following Assad's overthrow. That process has been complicated by outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence involving Alawite and Druze communities in western and southern Syria. International condemnation of Thursday's attack came swiftly, with the United Nations, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the foreign ministries of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey all denouncing what several called a "cowardly terrorist act" and calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.