Bomb explosions injure 18 in Damascus during Macron's visit

This video can not be played Explosions in central Damascus during Macron's Syria visit Eighteen people have been injured a visit , the Syrian government has said. The blasts happened near the Four Seasons hotel, where Macron spent the night and met civil society groups on Tuesday morning. The Syrian interior ministry said security forces detected two explosive devices in a parked car and a bin, which blew up as specialists began the process of defusing them, state news agency Sana reported. French officials said Macron was safe and did not hear the explosions. Shortly afterwards, he held talks with his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, at the presidential palace. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but a spokesman for Syria's interior ministry said that "an initial lead pointing to those who are responsible" had been discovered. The incident has underscored the major security challenges the authorities in Syria continue to face and overshadowed the first visit to the country 2024. Syria's interior ministry said four police officers were among the injured One video posted on social media on Tuesday morning showed security forces and first responders standing near a burning vehicle on a major thoroughfare running through the capital, close to the ministry of tourism's headquarters. The footage then shows a second explosion only a few metres away. BBC Verify analysis located the explosions at approximately 125m (410ft) from the Four Seasons hotel. One eyewitness told BBC Arabic's Middle East Daily that they had been standing in front of the ministry of tourism when the first explosion occurred. They said that while security forces were searching for suspicious objects after the first bomb detonated, "a second explosion occurred approximately 20m from the site of the first blast". "The first explosion caused material damage but no casualties. The second explosion, however, caused injuries to several members of the public security forces and the traffic police," the eyewitness told the BBC. The interior ministry said four police officers were among the injured. Spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba told reporters that the explosive devices were planted minutes before the blasts just outside the security perimeter that had been designated for Macron's accommodation. As reports of the explosions came in, Syrian state television said that Sharaa had welcomed Macron to the presidential palace. French officials said Emmanuel Macron did not hear any explosions on his way to meeting Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa Writing on social media after the blasts, Macron said: "Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria. "This morning I met Syria in all its diversity.