Ordnance from Syria’s 13-Year Conflict Explodes in Port City, Killing at Least 16 People

A SANA picture shows emergency workers at the site of the explosion. SANA/AFP
A SANA picture shows emergency workers at the site of the explosion. SANA/AFP
TT

Ordnance from Syria’s 13-Year Conflict Explodes in Port City, Killing at Least 16 People

A SANA picture shows emergency workers at the site of the explosion. SANA/AFP
A SANA picture shows emergency workers at the site of the explosion. SANA/AFP

Ordnance from Syria's 13-year conflict exploded in the coastal city of Latakia, collapsing a building and killing more than a dozen people, the Syrian Civil Defense said Sunday.

The paramedic group, known as the White Helmets, said it worked overnight, searching through debris and recovered 16 bodies, including five women and five children, and that 18 others were injured.  

The group and residents said the explosion occurred in a metal scrap storage space on the ground floor of the four-story building.

The United Nations said in February that about a hundred have been killed from exploding ordnance during the last 13 years, adding that since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December, over 1,400 unexploded devices across Syria have been safely disposed of and 138 minefields and contaminated areas identified in Idleb, Aleppo, Hama, Deir Ezzor and Latakia.



Lebanese State Will Not Rest Until Every Inch of Land is Liberated, Minister Says

Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025.  EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
TT

Lebanese State Will Not Rest Until Every Inch of Land is Liberated, Minister Says

Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025.  EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed al-Hajjar stressed on Saturday that the Lebanese state is adamant to free all parts of its land occupied by Israel.
“The state will not find rest until all parts of the land are liberated”, the state-run National News Agency quoted al-Hajjar on Saturday.
He stressed that diplomatic channels in that regard are reassuring. “All diplomatic channels are reassuring. We adhere to the sovereignty of the state which stands strongly by its people”, said Hajjar during a visit to oversee the electoral process in the southern town of Shebaa.
The minister hailed “the strong will” of the Lebanese people to make a change in spite of the limited resources.

Israel demands to remain in five southern locations after a February 18 deadline for fully implementing a ceasefire deal that ended more than a year of Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

The fourth and final phase of the municipal elections kicked off on Saturday in the South Lebanon and Nabatieh governorates, amid tight security measures enforced by the army and Internal Security Forces.
Local municipal elections began on May 4 in the Mount Lebanon Governorate, marking the first such elections in nine years after several postponements.