At least four people were injured early Monday morning when a series of explosions tore through a military site near Aleppo in northern Syria, according to state media.
State television reported that “a series of consecutive explosions shook wide areas of Aleppo city and its countryside following the explosion of an ammunition depot at a Syrian Arab Army site near the town of Al-Eis, in the southern Aleppo countryside.”
The cause of the explosions remains unknown, though the incident marks the fourth similar occurrence in Syria in less than a month.
Civil defense teams transported the injured and evacuated three families from the blast site, remaining on high alert as the explosions continued.
Faisal Mohammed Ali, the Aleppo operations commander for the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate, stated that “ongoing explosions in the Al-Eis area, south of Aleppo, hindered the arrival of ambulance and rescue teams before civil defense units were able to enter the area and evacuate four injured individuals.”
He explained that teams are continuing to evacuate homes near the blast site, while authorities have closed roads leading to the area.
Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib urged residents to “stay away from the area, avoid approaching the scene, and make way for specialized teams to carry out their duties,” confirming that hospitals, ambulance services, and emergency teams are on standby.
A resident of the Al-Hamdaniya neighborhood in Aleppo told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he heard the sound of a massive explosion.
Subsequently, the state-run Al-Ikhbariya channel broadcast footage showing shrapnel flying dozens of meters into the air at the site of the explosion. In the interest of public safety, the Ministry of Interior announced the closure of the Damascus-Aleppo international highway on the Aleppo side, while the SANA news agency reported that internal security forces had also blocked roads leading to the site of the explosions.
Pattern of Unidentified Blasts
This incident occurred two days after 11 army personnel were killed by an explosion of unknown origin at a military site in the Ayyash area, west of Deir ez-Zor.
Arms depots in Syria have previously experienced several explosions of unknown origin, including one in the northwest of the country on September 9 that killed 14 people. Ten days prior to that, an explosion involving a vehicle loaded with ammunition killed at least five people in the same area.
The recurring nature of these incidents with no clear cause identified in any case has raised concerns about security and oversight at military installations across the country.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar)