On Thursday, May 29, 2025, an explosive device planted on the side of the Ariqa-Najran road in the western countryside of Suwayda Governorate exploded as an ambulance belonging to the As-Suwayda Health Directorate was passing by. The explosion resulted in six civilians being injured, including two women and two members of the ambulance crew (the driver and a paramedic). The vehicle was also almost completely destroyed, putting it out of service. At the time of publication, the party responsible for planting the device remains unknown. The area is under the control of the Syrian Transitional Government.
According to information obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights from reliable local sources, the ambulance was transporting patients with kidney failure to the National Hospital in Sweida for dialysis. The sources reported that all of the injured were passengers, and their injuries varied in severity as a result of flying shrapnel. According to preliminary information, the explosive device was recently planted and was likely placed at night, as the road was passable the day before the incident.
SNHR notes that the explosion occurred on a public road frequented by civilians, including ambulances and medical transport vehicles, posing a grave threat to the safety of residents, particularly vulnerable groups such as children and the sick. The network continues to collect testimonies and testimonies from survivors and eyewitnesses to fully verify and document the incident.
Legal Conclusions
- Planting an explosive device in a vital civilian public road constitutes an unlawful act that threatens the right to life and bodily integrity. Whether or not the attack was directed, placing the device in a crowded location without a direct military target constitutes a prohibited indiscriminate attack.
- Using an explosive device in a vital civilian area constitutes an attack on the safety of the civilian population, violating Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to life, and Article 9, which guarantees the right to personal security.
- The area is under the control of the transitional government, which is legally obligated to ensure the general protection of civilians in areas under its control, even if it was not directly responsible for the bombing.
- Deliberately targeting civilians using IEDs hidden in public facilities (such as main and vital roads) could be classified as a terrorist act against the civilian population, especially if it is proven that they were deliberately planted in a crowded, non-military location.
Recommendations by SNHR
- Conduct an immediate, transparent, and impartial investigation to identify who planted the bomb and examine the security failures that allowed the attack to occur, with the results being made public.
- The controlling local authorities (the transitional government) bear responsibility for security, and we call on them to tighten control over public places and enhance preventive measures to protect civilians from similar risks.
- Compensating victims and their families, and providing health and psychological care to the injured, especially children, in accordance with the principles of justice and reparation.
- Enhancing efforts to remove explosive devices and remnants of war, through specialized teams operating under the supervision of organizations such as UNMAS and documenting potential hazardous areas.
- Donor countries should support local teams, organizations, and official bodies specialized in removing mines and remnants of war, to reduce risks and protect the lives of civilians.
