Blast targets security forces' bus near Damascus, causing injuries: state media

An explosive device targeted a bus carrying security forces near the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, resulting in injuries among the passengers, state media reported.

"An explosive device targeted a bus carrying Internal Security Forces personnel on the Maarounah–al-Tal road in Damascus countryside, leaving several personnel injured," state news agency SANA reported.

"Authorities are investigating the attack and working to identify those responsible," the news agency added, without immediately providing further details.

It published pictures showing a badly damaged bus at the side of a road, with its windows and one of its doors blown out, with glass scattered on the front seat.

Syria's Islamist authorities have faced significant security challenges since overthrowing longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad in late 2024, with Damascus and its suburbs the site of multiple attacks.

Earlier in August, a bus blast wounded 14 people in Jaramana, a town that hosts Christian and Druze communities near Damascus.

In July, two blasts went off near a hotel where visiting French President Emmanuel Macron had been staying, though he was not in the facility at the time.

That blast killed one person and wounded 36 others, with authorities later saying they had arrested those responsible, adding that they were part of the Islamic State group.