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Two ammunition depots in Syria have exploded within three days, killing 11 people and injuring at least 13, adding to three earlier blasts this month at sites holding ammunition and other military materiel.
The latest explosion occurred on September 21 at an ammunition depot near al-Eis in southern Aleppo countryside, according to Syrian state media. At least four people were injured.
A series of secondary blasts followed the initial explosion, sending projectiles into the surrounding area, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes and prompting authorities to close roads around the site. The cause was not immediately known.
Three days earlier, an explosion tore through an ammunition store inside a military position in Ayyash, west of Deir Ezzor city. The Defense Ministry said 11 personnel were killed and nine others wounded. Syrian authorities said the cause was still being investigated.
The two blasts followed three other incidents involving ammunition this month. On September 12, damaged munitions exploded at a remote storage facility near al-Dumayr in the Damascus countryside. The ammunition had reportedly been moved there for disposal, and no casualties were reported.
On September 9, an explosion at a temporary weapons depot near Sarmada in the northern Idlib countryside killed 14 Defense Ministry personnel and wounded 11 others. The Defense Ministry claimed that the depot contained remnants of the war, but footage from the scene revealed that it was used to store advanced weapons, including anti-tank guided missiles.
Before that, on September 1, an ammunition-loaded vehicle exploded in Binnish in the eastern Idlib countryside, killing five people and injuring others.
The cause of the blasts remains unknown. Accidental detonation, negligence and the mishandling of damaged ammunition are possible, but deliberate action cannot be ruled out.
One possibility is that weapons were removed and sold through illicit networks, with the depots later deliberately destroyed to conceal the theft. That could place military equipment in the hands of terrorist groups, including ISIS, which continues to operate through cells in Syria.
The explosions could also have been acts of sabotage. ISIS or other terrorist groups could have sought to destroy weapons or disrupt military facilities. Israeli involvement cannot be excluded, either.
With Syrian authorities yet to provide any meaningful answers on what exactly happened, public anger over the recent deadly blasts is rising.
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