Poor storage or sabotage? Series of explosions in Syria raises fears

Repeated blasts at military sites expose the risks facing Syria as it rebuilds its army and consolidates weapons after years of war.A series of explosions at weapons and ammunition sites across Syria this month have exposed the difficulties facing the country’s military in storing and moving munitions, as the armed forces rebuild after more than a decade of war.The latest blasts injured at least four people in the early hours of Monday morning at an arms depot in Al-Eis, south of Aleppo.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Do Israelis feel any safer now than they did on October 6, 2023?list 2 of 3Powerful explosions at Syrian army site near Aleppo injure at least fourlist 3 of 3Syria says blast at military site in Deir Az Zor killed 11end of listOn Friday, a blast in Ayyash, west of Deir Az Zor, killed 11 soldiers. Another on September 9 killed 14 defence ministry personnel in Sarmada, Idlib. Also in Idlib, five people were killed when a vehicle carrying ammunition exploded in the town of Binnish on September 1 .According to a tally by the Reuters news agency, at least 16 similar explosions have hit arms storage facilities since the fall of long-time President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 after an opposition offensive.Some have been attributed to poor storage conditions. The Syrian Defence Ministry said it is investigating the causes behind the recurrent explosions to prevent future incidents.Long-time neglectSecurity analysts are divided on the root causes, with some pointing to a lack of professional infrastructure and others highlighting the potential for foreign interference – although there is as yet no hard evidence for that.Omer Ozkizilcik, a nonresident senior fellow for the Syria Project in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programmes, explained to Al Jazeera that the Syrian military is undergoing a period of huge change. It is reorganising from what it was under al-Assad, consolidating weapons from different sources and integrating various forces. All of that could be putting pressure on Syria’s storage infrastructure, which was already creaking after the long war and international isolation.