Syrian ammunition depot explodes in fourth such blast this month

A series ​of explosions tore through an army weapons depot ​in northern Syria early on Monday, ‌the fourth ​such incident this month, wounding several people and sending villagers scattering.

The blast was the latest in a series of mysterious and often unexplained explosions ‌at military storage sites across Syria. Authorities offered no immediate explanation for the blasts near Al-Eis in the province of Aleppo, which were heard across nearby towns.

Four people were hurt, including one by falling shrapnel, the Emergency and ‌Disaster Management Ministry said, according to the state news agency SANA. Rescue workers had helped residents flee ‌nearby homes as authorities closed roads leading to the site, SANA reported.

The Defence Ministry said it was investigating the causes of explosions at several military sites, including the latest blast at the weapons depot near al-Eis, and would take measures to prevent similar ⁠incidents. Ahmed al-Ali, ​a resident of a ⁠nearby village, said the blasts had lasted an hour.

"It was as if doomsday had come. It wasn't fear, it was terror ... ⁠A rocket is blind. You don't know where it will land," said Another resident, Sultan al-Hussein, said he fled to ​another village with his family and returned to find his doors and windows broken by the force ⁠of the explosions.

Emergency workers were trying to clear unexploded projectiles, the Emergency Ministry said. There have been at least three other such ⁠incidents ​this month alone, including an explosion at a weapons depot in neighbouring Idlib province that killed 14 people on September 9 and another in eastern Syria that killed 11 people last week.

In total, there have ⁠been at least 16 similar explosions at arms storage facilities since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December ⁠2024, according to ⁠a Reuters tally. The causes have varied. Syrian authorities have blamed some on poor storage, fires or deteriorated ammunition, while the causes of several others have not been ‌publicly established.