At least six people were killed and dozens more injured after a powerful explosion tore through a town in northern Syria’s Idlib province on Thursday, according to emergency officials and local monitors.
The blast occurred in Maarat Misrin, just north of Idlib city, with rescue operations still underway as emergency workers search for survivors under the rubble.
The cause of the explosion has not been officially confirmed. However, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the blast originated from an ammunition depot in the area.
The Syrian Civil Defence, widely known as the White Helmets, confirmed the fatalities. “This is the death toll only of those recovered by Syrian Civil Defence teams, who continue to search for those trapped under the rubble,” the group said in a statement.
Syria’s Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management, Raed al-Saleh, said teams were working to evacuate the wounded and recover the dead, despite the danger posed by repeated secondary explosions at the site.
“Continued recurring explosions in the area… are hampering response efforts,” al-Saleh said in a post on social media platform X.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing local health officials, reported that at least 140 people were injured, but offered no additional details.
The country, still reeling from the devastation of a nearly 14-year civil war, remains on fragile footing. The conflict, which killed close to half a million people and displaced more than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million, ended with the sudden fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive by rebel forces in December.
Idlib province, once a stronghold of opposition fighters, was at the center of that final push. Syria’s current interim President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an insurgent group based in Idlib that played a key role in ousting Assad.
As of Thursday evening, emergency crews continued their work in Maarat Misrin amid concerns that more victims remain trapped beneath the debris.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed major investment and partnership deals with Syria, valued at $6.4 billion, to help rebuild the war-ravaged country’s infrastructure, telecommunications, and other major sectors.
Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which seized power after an Islamist-led offensive toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad last December.