Damascus, the capital of Syria, was rocked by explosions on Saturday morning according to reports from local residents and groups. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that reports on the Syrian conflict, stated that plumes of smoke were seen rising above different sites across the city.
Videos circulating on social media, which the BBC has been unable to independently verify, showed a large cloud of smoke hanging over Damascus as well as extensive damage to buildings allegedly caused by the explosions. The source of the explosions has not yet been officially confirmed, though some activists claim they were caused by Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed militias in Syria.
The alleged attacks come at a time of escalating tensions in the Middle East following the 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza earlier this month. A shaky ceasefire brought that deadly conflict to a close on May 20, but the situation across the region remains on edge.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against targets in Syria over the last few years, saying it will not tolerate Iranian military entrenchment in the neighboring country. Iran has sent thousands of forces to Syria to back the government of President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s civil war, now in its 11th year.
Saturday’s explosions, if confirmed to be the result of Israeli strikes, would represent the first such attacks since the Gaza ceasefire came into effect. The incidents highlight how Syria continues to be a theater for shadow conflicts between regional powers and militias backed by them. As long as outside powers maintain a military presence in Syria, the prospects for peace and stability in the country remain dim.
