Explosions

Officials urge civilians to stay away from site in Al-Eis near Aleppo after series of explosions.

Powerful explosions at a weapons depot in northern Syria have injured at least four people, according to state media, with officials urging the public to stay away from the site.

The explosions occurred early on Monday at a Syrian army site in the vicinity of the town of al-Eis, south of the city of Aleppo, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear.

Faisal Mohammad Ali, the head of civil defence operations in Aleppo, told SANA that rescuers have evacuated four injured people from the site.

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Aleppo, said a series of blasts has followed the initial explosion.

“The explosions are audible from a few kilometres away from the site. We have now seen a series of ambulances and fire trucks enter towards the position,” he reported.

Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib urged residents not to leave their homes for the time being, adding that “hospitals, ambulance and emergency teams are on full alert”.

Roads leading to the site of the explosions were closed “to ensure the safety of civilians”, Aleppo’s Internal Security Command said.

A resident of Aleppo’s Hamdaniyeh neighbourhood told the AFP news agency that they heard a “huge explosion” and when they went up to the roof could see “large flames in the distance”.

Several such blasts have previously occurred in Syria, which is emerging from more than a decade of civil war following the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.

An explosion of unknown origin killed 11 people at a military site in the eastern province of Deir Az Zor on Friday.

Earlier this month, an explosion at a weapons depot belonging to the Ministry of Defence killed 14 people and injured 11 in Syria’s northwest Idlib province.

Five people were killed just over a week earlier in the same area when a vehicle carrying munitions exploded.

SOFIA: An explosion and fire have hit an ammunition storage site in Bulgaria, police said Saturday, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country.

The latest incident happened late Friday at a warehouse operated by Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine, near the central village of Gorni Varpishta.

No casualties were reported and workers were evacuated from the site.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the blaze broke out at one warehouse at the facility, triggering explosions.

There was no danger of the fire spreading to other warehouses or beyond the storage complex, he told a press conference.

“All hypotheses are on the table and we are examining them carefully,” he said, adding the storage facilities had some shortcomings, including poor security.

The warehouse contained explosive materials, including around 100 munition rounds, the armaments company said.

The incident came about a month after a fire at an ammunition depot at another nearby EMCO plant in Bulgaria, a NATO member and supporter of Ukraine.

EMCO ruled out human error in that case, and prosecutors are investigating.

President Iliana Iotova said Saturday she was considering convening Bulgaria’s national security council, a presidential advisory body that brings together senior political, security and defense officials.

“Cases of explosions at ammunition depots have become more frequent,” she said.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian defense executive Emilian Gebrev, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2015 together with his son and another company executive.

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals over the poisoning.

Separately, six Russians have also been charged with terrorism over four explosions at arms facilities in the country between 2011 and 2020.

Prosecutors said the four blasts were remotely triggered and suspected the incidents were linked to efforts to disrupt arms supplies to Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria has supported Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

There have been a string of incidents at defense companies in European countries that support Ukraine in recent weeks.

Firebombs were thrown near defense company offices in the German city of Munich earlier this month and an ammunition factory near Rome operated by arms maker KNDS was hit by a blast in August.

No injuries were reported in either case.