\n A bomb explosion in Damascus on 2 July, 2026, killed at least nine people and injured more than 20 others [Getty]<\/p>\n
Authorities in Damascus <\/a>have opened an investigation into Thursday\u2019s deadly bombing in the heart of the Syrian capital<\/a>, but the attack remains clouded by uncertainty over who carried it out and why.<\/p>\n On Thursday afternoon, a bomb exploded at the al\u2011Mashriya caf\u00e9 on Nasr Street, less than 100 metres from the Palace of Justice in central Damascus, killing nine people and injuring more than 20 others, according to Syrian health officials.<\/p>\n The caf\u00e9 is popular with lawyers and court staff, and sits close to the site where Assad\u2011era officials are standing trial<\/a> \u2013 a detail that several Syrian analysts say may be central to understanding the message behind the attack.<\/p>\n In an official statement, Syria\u2019s interior ministry said, “initial procedures and investigations showed that the explosion was caused by a homemade explosive device weighing about one kilogram, equipped with metal shrapnel,” adding that the blast caused “serious injuries and significant damage to the site”.<\/p>\n The ministry vowed to pursue “the perpetrators of this terrorist act, and all those behind it,” and insisted that “no one involved will escape accountability,” stressing that state institutions were continuing to “perform their duty to protect the security and stability of citizens”.<\/p>\n Yet more than a day after the bombing, no group has claimed responsibility, and the nature of the device \u2013 described as “primitive” by the governor of Damascus \u2013 has fed speculation that a smaller, less organised actor may have been involved.<\/p>\n Conflicting theories on the perpetrators<\/p>\n The lack of a clear claim has left space for competing theories, ranging from a covert operation by extremist cells to an attack by networks linked to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad, seeking to disrupt sensitive trials of figures such as Bashar al-Assad’s notorious cousin, Atef Najib<\/a>, and Syria’s former grand mufti, Ahmed Hassoun<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking to The New Arab,\u00a0Hussam Hammoud, a journalist and researcher focused on armed groups, urged caution over early speculation that the bombing might be linked to the recent visit to Beirut by Syria\u2019s Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani<\/a>, or to Hezbollah, which supported the Assad regime during Syria’s brutal conflict.<\/p>\n “For me, this is an unsupported theory,” he said, noting that the atmosphere among Hezbollah supporters in recent days “wasn\u2019t directed against the Syrian state \u2013 mainly it was directed against Israel, it was directed against the war in Lebanon. There was no indication from Hezbollah\u2019s supporters that pointed to Damascus as a target.”<\/p>\n Instead, Hammoud highlighted the symbolic weight of the location. “It\u2019s worth noting that on July 2nd, Al\u2011Naba, ISIS\u2019s weekly newspaper, attacked ideologically the People\u2019s Assembly, a sovereign institution. They called for the destruction of ‘people rules’ in favour of rule by God alone. The Palace of Justice represents a target of this same type,” he said.<\/p>\n In his view, “the target is the real story”: the blast took place roughly 100 metres from where Assad officials implicated in abuses are due to be put on trial, raising the possibility that the perpetrators intended to intimidate the judiciary and those pushing for accountability, rather than to hit civilians at a caf\u00e9 per se.<\/p>\n One scenario under discussion among analysts is that remnants of the old security networks tied to the Assad regime \u2013 those most exposed by current legal proceedings \u2013 could have had an interest in disrupting or sending a warning around these trials. “The caf\u00e9 wasn\u2019t the target itself \u2013 the palace was [the target] where they wanted to affect the atmosphere,\u201d Hammoud said.<\/p>\n Another theory is that clandestine jihadist cells, including the Islamic State group<\/a>, may be testing the limits of security in the capital. Hammoud noted that ISIS has claimed attacks in Damascus and elsewhere in Syrian government held territory over the past year, and that ideologically, the group has recently renewed its hostility towards institutions such as the parliament and the courts.<\/p>\n “On one hand, I see the possibility for ISIS to claim such an attack,” he said. However, he also stressed that the nature of Thursday\u2019s target did not fully fit ISIS\u2019s usual pattern, and that the profile of some of the victims \u2013 reportedly including people from eastern Syria with “complex relations” to the group \u2013 complicates assumptions that this would serve ISIS\u2019s short\u2011term goals, while also emphasising that the absence of a claim makes firm conclusions premature.<\/p>\n Attack amid political milestones in Syria<\/p>\n The bombing comes at a delicate time for the Syrian authorities.<\/p>\n