Syria Arrests IS-Linked Bomb Suspects  07/10 06:22

   Syrian authorities said on Thursday they have arrested several suspects 
accused of a string of recent explosions in Damascus, including the bombings 
during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit earlier this week.

   DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Syrian authorities said on Thursday they have 
arrested several suspects accused of a string of recent explosions in Damascus, 
including the bombings during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit earlier 
this week.

   An official with Syria's Internal Security Forces said the Islamic State 
group was behind the bombings. The extremist group has not claimed the attacks.

   Security forces carried out raids in the Syrian capital and the surrounding 
areas, and "succeeded in dismantling the entire cell responsible" for the 
bombings, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

   Brig. Gen. Ahmad al-Dalati, Internal Security Forces' commander for the 
rural Damascus province, later told state television that the suspects were 
part of an IS-affiliated cell. He said investigators had been able to identify 
one member of the cell after reviewing security camera footage and tracked him 
to identify the other suspects.

   On Tuesday, explosive devices were planted in a garbage bin and a parked car 
during Macron's landmark visit to Syria, a country rebuilding from years of 
civil war. Macron, who was in the presidential palace when the blasts happened, 
was not harmed and continued with his meeting with Syrian President Ahmad 
al-Sharaa.

   The explosions killed one person and wounded 36 others, according to the 
final casualty toll announced by Syria's Ministry of Health.

   Last week, an explosive device detonated in a cafe near Damascus' main 
judicial complex, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20.

   The explosions are a challenge to al-Sharaa, who has pushed to assert full 
control over Syria. He has appealed to minorities skeptical of his government's 
Islamist-led rule and sought to win support of Western governments concerned 
about his past leadership of the formerly al-Qaida-linked group known as Hayat 
Tahrir al-Sham.

   His government has promised political and economic reform after decades of 
autocratic rule of the Assad family, which ended when former President Bashar 
Assad was ousted in an insurgent offensive in December 2024 led by al-Sharaa.

   The nearly 14-year civil war in Syria killed nearly half a million people 
and displaced millions, leaving much devastation and infrastructure in ruins. 
While other nations and businesses have made large investment pledges, the 
country still needs hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild and lift 
millions out of poverty.