Syria Says 11 Soldiers Killed in Ammunition Blast at Deir Az Zor Army Site

Syrian authorities said 11 soldiers were killed when an explosion struck a weapons cache at a Syrian Arab Army position in the town of Ayyash, in western Deir Az Zor, on Friday.

The military held a funeral procession on Saturday, a day after the blast, according to the official SANA news agency. State broadcaster Al Ikhbiriya showed mourners gathered outside the National Hospital in Deir Az Zor city as bodies wrapped in Syrian flags were carried in the procession.

SANA, citing the Ministry of Defense, said the explosion hit a weapons cache within the army site. The provincial government said nine other soldiers were wounded. Al Ikhbiriya reported that the soldiers were killed while transporting heavy ammunition at the site.

The cause of the blast has not been determined, and an investigation is under way, the provincial government said.

The incident marked the second explosion at a Syrian military site in less than two weeks. On September 9, an explosion at a temporary weapons and war-remnants depot in Sarmada, in the northwestern province of Idlib, killed 14 soldiers and wounded more than 10 people, including civilians, according to the Ministry of Defense. The ministry said at the time that it took responsibility for the incident and that the depot had been used to collect weapons and munitions left over from Syria’s civil war ahead of their transfer under standard procedures.

Syria’s emergency management minister, Raed al-Saleh, told the local outlet Enab Baladi at the time that his ministry was working with other government bodies to keep such sites clear of civilians. He acknowledged, however, that some locations are difficult to fully secure because civilians are involved in collecting abandoned munitions.

Earlier, on September 1, a vehicle carrying ammunition exploded in Binnish, also in Idlib province, killing five people and wounding others, according to Syrian state media.

Explosions like these have become frequent in Syria as the country works to clear the vast stockpiles of weapons and munitions left behind after more than 10 years of civil war. The latest blast underscores the persistent dangers facing soldiers and civilians as authorities try to secure and remove abandoned ordnance, even as the cause of the Deir Az Zor explosion remains under investigation.