Syrian Bar Affiliation mourns six legal professionals amid worldwide condemnation of Thursday’s assault in Damascus.
Revealed On 3 Jul 2026
Syrians have filed via the capital, Damascus, to mourn the victims of a bomb blast that ripped through a cafe, close to the Palace of Justice, killing 9 folks, together with six legal professionals.
The funeral procession within the usually bustling Midan neighbourhood noticed mourners on Friday carry the coffins of three of the lifeless, as they had been laid to relaxation.
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Thursday’s blast, which additionally wounded 22 folks, focused the Al-Mushairiya Cafe on al-Nasr Road within the al-Hijaz district.
The cafe, positioned some 70 metres (230 ft) from the Palace of Justice, the place a number of high-profile instances have been held, was a well-liked gathering spot for authorized professionals and courtroom guests.
Damascus Governor Maher Marwan described the gadget as “primitive” and promised that perpetrators would face justice.
Six legal professionals had been among the many lifeless, based on native media. The impartial Syrian information outlet Zaman al-Wasl named the legal professionals as Muhannad Khalaf, Zuhair Askar, Hossam al-Safadi, Mahmoud al-Shamali, Muhammad Ali al-Shihab, and Eid Muhammad Awad.
The Syrian Bar Affiliation issued an announcement mourning “a constellation of its fellow legal professionals who had been martyred”. It stated the legal professionals “left us whereas performing their mission within the justice system” and prolonged its condolences to their households.
Lawyer Eid Muhammad, a father of six daughters from the village of al-Hajjah within the Quneitra countryside, was reportedly reviewing legal documents on the cafe when the explosion struck. He was the only breadwinner for his household.
Photographs of the aftermath of the assault circulated extensively on social media, with one {photograph} displaying Muhammad face down in his personal blood, nonetheless surrounded by the authorized paperwork he had been inspecting earlier than the explosion.
Mahmoud Ali al-Shihab, 50, from the town of al-Qusayr within the southern Homs countryside, was married and a father of 4 daughters. Muhammad Saeed al-Shamali was a father of two sons, one among whom additionally practises legislation, Zaman al-Wasl reported.
Sympathy and condemnation
Damascus resident Bahaa Qabbani advised The Related Press that his brother, Fathi Qabbani, who labored near the focused cafe, was killed within the blast as he walked by the positioning.
Qabbani known as the perpetrators of the assault “a gaggle of terrorists who’re in opposition to the homeland,” and known as on the nation’s safety forces to “seize the nation with an iron fist”.
Syrian authorities stated the bomb was planted contained in the cafe and later detonated, dismissing social media rumours of a suicide bomber.
Officers have promised to search out these behind the assault, however no updates have been introduced concerning the investigation, and no group has claimed duty for the bombing.
The assault has drawn widespread condemnation from regional governments together with Turkiye, Iraq, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan, which expressed solidarity with Syria and reaffirmed their rejection of “terrorism”.
In an announcement, the European Union additionally “strongly condemned” the bombing, describing it as a “terrorist assault” and expressing condolences to the victims and their households.
The assault represents one of the crucial important safety breaches within the Syrian capital for the reason that new authorities took energy following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad authorities in December 2024.
Damascus has witnessed a handful of safety incidents in latest months, together with a automobile bomb that killed one Syrian soldier and wounded a minimum of 18 folks outdoors the Ministry of Defence in Could.
