At least 14 killed in weapons depot blast in Syria’s Idlib, state TV says

What the report says

At least 14 people were killed and 11 others injured after an explosion tore through a temporary weapons depot near Sarmada in Syria’s Idlib province, according to Syrian state television and other state media cited by Al Jazeera. The blast took place on Wednesday in Burj al-Nimra village, in the northern Idlib countryside, and sent thick smoke into the air as fires burned for hours.

Al Jazeera reported that Syria’s Defence Ministry said some of its personnel were among the wounded, while emergency crews were sent quickly to the scene. Firefighting efforts were complicated by additional explosions at the site, and search teams were still looking for survivors trapped under rubble. An Associated Press photographer at the scene reported bodies being recovered.

Authorities had not said what caused the explosion. Al Jazeera noted that such incidents remain a recurring hazard in Syria after more than a decade of war, with unexploded ordnance and old munitions still present in some areas. The ministry said the depot had been used to store weapons and munitions from the years of conflict that began in 2011 and ended in 2024.

The blast comes shortly after another ammunition-related explosion in Idlib province on September 1 that killed five people, underscoring the ongoing risks posed by stored weapons and war debris in the region.