Blast at military site in Syria's Dayr al-Zawr kills 11

A funeral procession was held on Saturday at the National Hospital in Dayr al-Zawr city for the forces killed in an explosion at a military site in the Ayyash area the previous day, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The blast resulted in 11 fatalities. Firefighters and rescuers were dispatched to the scene, local media reported at the time, without immediately providing casualty figures.

Several similar explosions have previously occurred at arms depots across Syria. On September 9, at least 14 people were killed and another 11 wounded in an explosion at a temporary site used to store weapons and remnants of the country's foreign-backed militancy. That blast took place near the city of Sarmada in the northwestern Idlib province. The explosion in an area full of volatile materials led to secondary explosions and fires that hampered the emergency response, with smoke billowing from the site for some time.

After the collapse of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in early December 2024, the Israeli military has been carrying out airstrikes targeting military sites, installations, and stockpiles once managed by the Syrian army. Israel has encountered significant backlash for terminating the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria and exploiting the disorder in the war-ravaged country to acquire land. Most Israeli strikes have been focused in the southern Syrian provinces of Quneitra, Dara'a, and Damascus, representing around 80 percent of all documented Israeli assaults.

According to Mehr News, the explosion in Dayr al-Zawr is the latest in a series of blasts at military and weapons storage sites in Syria, which have caused casualties and damage in various regions.