Syria car bomb kills at least two people in Jaramana, near Damascus

OK, well, let's return to that breaking story out of Syria, where there's been a car bomb near the capital of Damascus. Let's speak to our correspondent, Heidi Pett, in the Syrian capital. She's on the phone for us. Heidi, what have you been able to establish about this apparent explosion in a car? So we've been speaking to people in the area, which is a suburb of Damascus called Jaramana, and security sources over the last little while. And what we are able to confirm is that security forces believe that this was a car bomb. There was an explosive device placed in a car, which was near a battery factory in this suburb of Damascus. Now, at the moment, we understand that there are a number of casualties. At least one person has been confirmed, killed, and a number of others injured. So the security forces have... They've cordoned off the area. They say they've opened an investigation into the circumstances of this explosion. But at the moment, we don't have any more confirmed information about exactly the nature of the device that was in that car or who might be behind it or, indeed, if they were targeting a particular person or group of people. And Heidi, tell us about the district itself. Jaramana is on the southeastern edge of the capital. How far is that from the city centre? Is it an area that was densely populated? Any sense of what that area might look like? Yeah, so the suburb of Jaramana, it's on the south-eastern edge of the city. It's a very mixed suburb of Damascus, and it has a large Druze population. And it has been the scene of clashes and tensions over the last nearly two years since the fall of the Assad regime. And particularly, there was quite a great deal of violence and tension there in May of 2025, when there were clashes between Druze armed groups and security forces. in several different places across the south of the country and then also in July. So it's possible but not confirmed that this may relate to some ongoing tension related to that. But I must stress that we don't have any confirmed information at this stage about exactly who was behind it or who it might have been targeted. But it's a very densely populated civilian residential area where you have people from all over Syria who have moved and lived in that area for a long time. It's a very, very mixed, dense residential neighborhood. Yeah, Heidi, as you're talking to us on the phone, we're looking at some of the latest pictures to come in, the aftermath of that explosion in that vehicle that seems to have caused damage to the surrounding areas as well. You mentioned that the internal security forces are on the scene and investigation has been launched. No doubt these are teams who have handled these kind of challenges before, particularly... with the establishment of a new government after the collapse of the Assad regime there. Talk us through what they might be doing on the ground by way of securing that area. So unfortunately, as you're right, these teams, they do have a great deal of experience dealing with this kind of thing. And in fact, the emergency services here in Syria, it's the White Helmets who were the groups that were assisting at the site of airstrikes throughout the war. And there's been a number of different explosions that are IEDs or car bombs in the 18 to 24 months since then. So ordinarily what happens... They come to the scene, they cordon it off, they make sure they're checking that there are no secondary devices because that has been a feature of previous attacks in Syria over the last little while, including two explosions that went off during the presidential visit of Emmanuel Macron back in July of this year. So they're securing the area both for the safety of any other people in the area. And the safety of their team and that's when they will then be able to start conducting an actual investigation into the nature of the device and that then helps them try and establish who might have been behind it, whether it is similar in make or similar in methodology to other attacks that have been carried out here over the last little while. As you say, Heidi, the investigation has begun. Those internal security forces cordon off the area, trying now to establish the circumstances of what you are seeing on your screens there. Unfortunately, scenes like this, as Heidi has been saying, an ever-present reality of the security situation in the country and how fragile it is. Just to repeat the breaking news out of Jarrah Manor, that is... In the southeastern edge of Damascus, at least one person, our correspondent Heidi Pett is saying, has been killed. We believe two may have been seriously hurt in this, as well as others wounded. We will establish further details as and when we can get that information. For the time being, Heidi, many thanks there in Damascus. Heidi Pett.