The Syrian Ministry of Defence announced that improvised military equipment used in the rocket attack on the Mazzeh 86 neighbourhood of Damascus late on Friday has been recovered, according to private sources cited by The New Arab’s Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The sources said the launch point was identified in the vicinity of Kafr Sousa, an area that hosts several state and security institutions.
The equipment was discovered on a plot of land in the Kafr Sousa district and consisted of power batteries and a makeshift device designed to fire rockets. The sources confirmed that the projectiles used in the attack were Katyusha rockets.
The strike, carried out by an unknown party, targeted a three-storey residential building in Mezzeh 86, injuring a woman and causing moderate damage.
According to the same sources, the rockets’ type and the launch site’s location suggest the operation may have been intended to target the Presidential Palace, given the close proximity of the impact area and the absence of any military or security facilities in the neighbourhood struck.
The Mazzeh 86 suburb is an upscale, predominantly Alawite area of Damascus where many former officials from the deposed Assad regime live.
Security forces remain deployed at the impact site and the suspected launch site as evidence-gathering continues. The sources said the area remains cordoned off as investigators attempt to establish how the launch setup was placed and whether it was abandoned intentionally or in haste.
In a statement Friday evening, the Ministry of Defence said Damascus had been subjected to a “cowardly attack” involving “two Katyusha rockets” launched “from the outskirts of the city toward residential areas in the Mazzeh district and its surroundings”, resulting in civilian injuries and material damage.
The ministry said it had begun investigations with the Ministry of Interior to determine the rockets’ trajectory and points of origin.
It stressed that it “will not hesitate to pursue those responsible for this criminal act, and will take deterrent measures against anyone who tampers with the security of the capital and targets the lives and stability of Syrians”.
The attack marks one of the most significant incidents in the capital in recent months, drawing renewed attention to the vulnerability of residential districts near sensitive state locations.
With the investigation still underway and no group claiming responsibility, Syrian authorities are continuing to secure the area as they assess how the rockets were launched from inside the capital’s urban perimeter.
