By Peter Omopo
At least 14 people have been killed and 11 others injured after an explosion at a temporary weapons depot in northern Syria’s Idlib province.
The blast occurred on Wednesday at Burj al Nimra village near Sarmada, where weapons and remnants of war from Syria’s long running conflict were reportedly being stored.
Thick smoke reportedly engulfed the area after the explosion, while a fire continued to burn at the site for several hours. Efforts by emergency and firefighting teams were complicated by a series of secondary explosions, preventing responders from immediately bringing the blaze under control.
Syria’s Defence Ministry confirmed that some of its personnel were among those injured in the incident, according to Reuters.
The state news agency, SANA, reported that emergency teams were dispatched shortly after the explosion to respond to the disaster. Rescue workers subsequently began searching through the rubble for people who may have been trapped beneath the debris.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene reported seeing bodies being recovered as rescue operations continued.
Authorities have yet to establish the precise cause of the explosion. However, such incidents remain a persistent danger in Syria, where large quantities of weapons and unexploded remnants of war remain scattered across areas affected by more than a decade of conflict.
According to the Defence Ministry, the destroyed depot had been used to store weapons and munitions left over from the Syrian uprising and civil war, which began in 2011 and continued until 2024.
The latest incident comes just days after another ammunition related explosion in Idlib province. On September 1, a vehicle carrying ammunition exploded in Binnish, killing five people and injuring several others, according to Syrian state media.
The repeated explosions highlight the continuing risks posed by weapons stockpiles and war remnants across parts of Syria, even as the country seeks to move beyond years of armed conflict.
Rescue and emergency operations at the Burj al Nimra site were continuing as authorities worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the deadly blast.
