At least 14 killed in explosion at weapons depot in Syria

An explosion at an arms depot in Syria's northwestern Idlib province killed 14 people on Wednesday, the local health department said, without specifying the cause of the blast.

"The toll from the explosion in a temporary storage for collecting weapons and war remnants near the city of Sarmada... registered 14 killed and 11 injured in a preliminary count," the Idlib health department said.

The Syrian defence ministry's media department earlier told state television that several of the ministry's personnel had been wounded in the incident.

Syrian media broadcast images showing large columns of smoke rising from the site of the blast, while rescuers rushed to the area.

The incident marks the second deadly blast in Idlib this month, after a car carrying ammunition exploded, killing five in the city of Binnish.

A government source told AFP at the time that the car was owned by a weapons trader, while authorities did not announce the cause of the blast.

There have been sporadic blasts in Idlib involving ammunition-laden cars or arms depots.

The province was a key stronghold of armed anti-government factions during the country's more than 13 years of civil war, before longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December 2024.