Damascus mourns cafe bombing victims as lawyers named among dead
A blast near Damascus’s Palace of Justice killed nine people and wounded 22, with local media reporting six lawyers among those who died.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Mourners in Damascus buried victims of a cafe bombing that killed nine people near the city’s Palace of Justice, Al Jazeera and The Associated Press reported. The attack has raised security concerns in the Syrian capital because the cafe was close to a major court complex and was frequented by lawyers and court visitors.
On Friday, people carried three coffins through the Midan neighbourhood as part of a funeral procession, according to Al Jazeera and AP. The bombing took place Thursday at Al-Mushairiya Cafe on al-Nasr Street in the al-Hijaz district.
Syrian authorities said 22 people were wounded in the blast. Damascus Governor Maher Marwan described the explosive device as “primitive” and said those responsible would be brought to justice, Al Jazeera reported.
Lawyers among the victims
Local media reported that six lawyers were among the dead. The independent Syrian outlet Zaman al-Wasl identified them as Muhannad Khalaf, Zuhair Askar, Hossam al-Safadi, Mahmoud al-Shamali, Muhammad Ali al-Shihab and Eid Muhammad Awad.
The Syrian Bar Association mourned what it called “a constellation of its fellow lawyers who were martyred,” according to Al Jazeera. The association said the lawyers died while carrying out their role in the justice system and offered condolences to their families.
Al Jazeera reported that Eid Muhammad, a father of six daughters from al-Hajjah village in the Quneitra countryside, had been reviewing legal papers at the cafe when the explosion hit. The report said he was his family’s only breadwinner.
Zaman al-Wasl reported that Mahmoud Ali al-Shihab, 50, was from al-Qusayr in the southern Homs countryside and was married with four daughters. It also reported that Muhammad Saeed al-Shamali had two sons, one of them a lawyer.
No claim of responsibility
Syrian authorities said the bomb had been planted inside the cafe and detonated later, rejecting social media claims that a suicide bomber carried out the attack, according to Al Jazeera. Officials have promised an investigation, but Al Jazeera reported that no further updates had been announced and no group had claimed responsibility.
Damascus resident Bahaa Qabbani told AP that his brother, Fathi Qabbani, was killed while walking near the cafe, where he worked close by. Qabbani described those behind the bombing as terrorists and called on security forces to tighten control.
Governments including Turkiye, Iraq, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan condemned the bombing and expressed solidarity with Syria, Al Jazeera reported. The European Union also condemned the attack, calling it a “terrorist attack” and offering condolences to the victims’ families.
Al Jazeera described the bombing as one of the most serious security breaches in Damascus since the new government took power after Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed in December 2024. The capital has seen several recent security incidents, including a May car bomb outside the Ministry of Defence that killed one Syrian soldier and wounded at least 18 people.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.