- A drone strike killed 3 people on the Damascus-Homs highway in the Qastal area, northeast of Damascus
- The origin of the drone used in the attack is currently unknown
Updated 26 October 2026 21:39
LONDON: A drone strike killed three people on a highway northeast of Damascus on Monday, a Syrian defense source told AFP.
The drone, whose origin was unknown, targeted a car on the Damascus-Homs highway in the Qastal area, the source said on condition of anonymity.
State news agency SANA earlier reported an explosion inside a car along the highway, saying emergency workers recovered victims’ bodies and authorities opened an investigation.
It did not identify the cause of the blast or give a death toll.
A government source had separately told AFP that three people were killed.
The Defense Ministry source later identified one of the dead as Abu Abdul-Rahman Al-Libi, a commander of Hurras Al-Din, a dissolved Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The other two victims had not been identified.
Syria’s security remains fragile following the overthrow of longtime President Bashar Assad in December 2024, with the interim government facing militant attacks, sectarian tensions and Israeli incursion into the south. Despite a decline in large-scale fighting, Daesh cells remain active.