People killed and injured as blast hits vehicle near Syria’s Damascus

Body parts found at the scene and at least seven wounded after explosion on minibus in town of Jaramana.

Several people have been wounded and others are feared dead in an explosion on a passenger minibus in a town on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Seven injuries have so far been recorded in the blast that took place in the town of Jaramana on Thursday, Najeeb Al-Nassan, the director of the Referral, Ambulance and Emergency Directorate at Syria’s Ministry of Health, told state news agency SANA.

He added that body parts had been found at the scene and were being handled by forensic teams.

A source at Syria’s health ministry told Al Jazeera that two people were killed and 11 others injured, but this has not been officially confirmed.

The blast took place during peak hour in Rauda street centre of Jaramana, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported.

A security source told Al Jazeera that it was caused by an explosive device planted on a minibus.

Al Jazeera correspondent Amer Al-Abbad, reporting from Damascus, said the town had seen rising tensions in recent days.

Two days ago, limited protests were held in Jaramana demanding accountability for what residents called perpetrators of violations in the city of Sweida. Tensions flared again overnight after security forces detained a man accused of glorifying symbols of the former government.

Jaramana, a mixed Druze-Christian town southeast of Damascus, has been a flashpoint since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Clashes between Druze gunmen and government security forces erupted there in early 2025, and deadly sectarian violence in April and May 2025 prompted disarmament deals between Damascus and Druze leaders in Jaramana and Sweida.

The bombing is the first of its kind in the town since the fall of the previous government. In recent weeks, Damascus has been hit by a series of blasts, including one at the Palace of Justice, which authorities blamed on the ISIL group.