At least 14 people were killed and 11 others injured in an explosion at a weapons storage facility in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on Wednesday, local authorities reported. The blast occurred near the town of Sarmada, with officials warning the death toll could rise as rescue teams continued search and recovery efforts.

The Syrian Defence Ministry described the site as a temporary depot used to collect weapons and remnants of war before they were moved elsewhere. Several ministry personnel were among the casualties, and security forces were reportedly working to secure the area following the explosion.

Initial reports from a medical source in Sarmada indicated eight injuries immediately after the blast. Emergency responders have since been assessing damage and assisting those affected.

This incident follows a similar explosion earlier this month in the town of Binnish, also in Idlib province. On September 1, a vehicle transporting ammunition detonated, killing five people and injuring others, according to Syrian state media.

Idlib and the neighboring Aleppo province have experienced multiple explosions at weapons and ammunition storage sites over recent years. These incidents raise ongoing concerns about the dangers posed to civilians by the large quantities of munitions and war remnants left from Syria’s decade-long conflict.

Authorities have not disclosed a definitive cause for the latest blast. However, such events are not uncommon in Syria, which has only recently emerged from more than ten years of civil war that lasted from 2011 until 2024. The Syrian Defence Ministry stated that the destroyed depot contained arms and munitions accumulated during the years of uprising and fighting.