A bomb exploded on Thursday, July 2, inside a café in central Damascus, one day after the formation of Syria’s new People’s Assembly, the first legislature formed since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

According to Enab Baladi, citing the Syrian Health Ministry, an initial toll reported five dead and sixteen wounded after the blast at al-Mouchiriyya café, on al-Nasr Street, near the Palace of Justice. The toll was later raised to at least nine dead and around twenty wounded, according to international media citing Syrian authorities.

The Syrian Interior Ministry said the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device packed with metal fragments. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

But the timing gives the bombing a political dimension. A day earlier, Syrian authorities had finalized the composition of the People’s Assembly, after President Ahmad al-Sharaa appointed 70 members.

In the latest issue of al-Naba, Islamic State’s weekly publication, the group directly attacks the new Assembly. It describes it as a “Majlis al-shirk”, or “council of shirk”, accusing Syria’s new authorities of legislating outside Islamic law.

The text also denounces the “People’s Assembly” as an impious institution. This rhetoric does not amount to a claim of responsibility, but it shows that IS already places Syria’s transitional institutions among its targets.

The organization no longer controls territory in Syria as it did between 2014 and 2019. Its threat now relies mainly on cells, explosive devices, targeted assassinations and attacks against security forces.

Other groups also blur the security picture. Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, which emerged after the attack on Mar Elias Church in 2025, has added to the uncertainty between small autonomous groups, possible fronts and opportunistic claims. By contrast, Ouli al-Ba’s belongs more to a pro-Iranian current hostile to the new authorities, and is distinct from IS.

The bombing at al-Mouchiriyya café therefore does not allow the attack to be attributed to Islamic State. It does, however, come at a time when the group is targeting Syria’s new institutions in its propaganda, while the authorities are trying to secure the capital against several armed networks.