Syrian intelligence authorities have arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, the chief suspect in the 2013 Baniyas massacre who has also been implicated in the deadly twin bombings in Türkiye’s Reyhanli district, state media reported on Thursday.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said the General Intelligence Directorate detained Kayali as he was allegedly trying to flee across a border. The report did not specify where the arrest took place or which border he was attempting to cross.
Kayali, a former militia leader loyal to Syria’s ousted regime leader Bashar al Assad, has long been accused of involvement in mass killings in Baniyas and the nearby village of al Bayda during the early years of the Syrian uprising.
He has also been implicated in the twin bombings in Reyhanli, in Türkiye’s southern Hatay province, on May 11 2013. The attacks killed dozens of people and were among the deadliest bombings in Türkiye’s recent history.
His arrest comes less than two weeks after Syrian counterterrorism authorities detained Jamal Trabulsi, his former deputy in the pro-Assad Syrian Resistance militia, on October 4.
Syrian authorities have accused Trabulsi of taking part in military operations alongside forces loyal to Assad, including the 2013 massacres in Baniyas and al Bayda.
Mass killings during Syria’s uprising
On May 2 2013, Syrian regime forces and allied militias stormed al Bayda in Tartus province, killing hundreds of civilians, according to accounts of the massacre.
Survivors said forces carried out mass executions, burned homes and killed women and children during the assault.
Since Assad’s ouster in December 2024, Syrian authorities have intensified efforts to arrest former regime officials and militia commanders accused of crimes against civilians during the country’s civil war.
