Syrian authorities said 18 people were wounded by two blasts in central Damascus on Tuesday near the hotel where France's president spent the night, with the Élysée Palace saying his visit is ongoing.
The blasts came moments before Syrian state television announced Emmanuel Macron's arrival to the presidential palace to meet his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The French president, the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, will continue his visit, Paris said.
The Syrian interior ministry said that "18 people, including four police officers, were injured" as a result of the two explosions caused by "two improvised devices, the first of which was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road, while the second was placed inside a garbage container."
The ministry said the devices exploded "while preparations were underway" to dismantle them.
