Security personnel stand guard near the Four Seasons Hotel following two blasts nearby in Damascus. AFP
The blasts came moments before Syrian state television announced Emmanuel Macron's arrival at the presidential palace to meet his counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The French president, the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, will continue his visit, France's Elysee Palace said.
The Syrian interior ministry said that "18 people, including four police officers, were injured" as a result of the two explosions caused by "two improvised devices, the first of which was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road, while the second was placed inside a garbage container".
The ministry said the devices exploded "while preparations were underway" to dismantle them.
A security source told AFP earlier that the bombs were placed near the Four Seasons hotel, where Macron had spent the night.
A large plume of smoke could be seen from the site of the explosion near the hotel. Footage widely circulated on social media showed a van and a motorcycle on fire and blood stains on the street in the area on a busy street near the headquarters of the Tourism Ministry and the Damascus National Museum.
AFP journalists heard at least one blast echo through Damascus before seeing a plume of smoke rising near the hotel, with security forces closing nearby roads and ambulances heading to the scene.
Macron had left the hotel before the blasts took place, and they were not heard by the French presidential convoy, according to two AFP journalists travelling with them.
The second explosion occurred near Victoria Bridge in central Damascus, about two hundred metres from the hotel.
"I saw three traffic police officers injured on the ground, before the area was evacuated and the roads leading to it were closed," Hamam Hammoud, a 37-year-old employee at a money exchange company, told AFP.
“Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria,” Macron said in a post on X hours after the explosions. “This morning I met Syria in all its diversity. I saw dignity, courage and determination.”
Before arriving at the presidential palace, Macron held a meeting Tuesday morning with civil society representatives at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Immediately after the two explosions, hotel security took precautionary measures and asked those who had met with Macron to go to the hotel's parking garage and remain there for their safety, according to an attendee who spoke to AFP.
The incident comes days after an explosive device was detonated in a cafe near the Justice Palace in Damascus, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20.
While Syria’s new rulers have wrestled with violence involving different groups in the country as they work to assert control, the capital has largely been peaceful during the turbulent period.
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