Syrian Forces Arrest main Suspect in 2013 Mass Killing of Civilians

Syrian authorities have arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, over his alleged involvement in the 2013 massacre of civilians in the Baniyas region of western Syria.

The Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported on Thursday that intelligence officials apprehended Kayali while he was allegedly attempting to flee across the country's border. However, the agency did not disclose his intended destination.

Kayali has long been accused of playing a leading role in the mass killings of predominantly Sunni civilians in the villages of al-Bayda and Ras al-Nabaa in 2013. At the time, he led an armed group loyal to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to figures from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, cited by SANA, at least 264 civilians, including 36 children and 28 women, were killed in al-Bayda. In Ras al-Nabaa, another 195 people, including 56 children, reportedly died in attacks attributed to Kayali's militia.

Human Rights Watch described the killings in 2013 as among the deadliest mass executions recorded during Syria's increasingly violent conflict.

Militias affiliated with Kayali have also been accused of carrying out massacres in the countryside of Latakia, Aleppo and Idlib, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency has additionally identified Kayali as the main suspect in the 2013 twin bombings in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, which killed at least 52 people.

Kayali, born Mihrac Ural in 1956 in Hatay, Turkey, reportedly moved to Syria in 1982. According to SANA, he is married to Malak al-Fadel, a member of Syria's Alawite religious community, to which Assad also belongs.

Earlier this month, Syrian security forces arrested Kayali's deputy, Jamal Tarabulsi, as authorities intensified efforts to apprehend former regime officials and militia commanders accused of crimes against civilians during the country's civil war.

Syria's conflict began in 2011 with pro-democracy protests against Assad's government before escalating into a devastating war involving armed groups, paramilitary forces and foreign powers.

The conflict increasingly took on a sectarian dimension, with the massacres in Baniyas and al-Bayda widely regarded as significant events in that development.

Assad was removed from power in December 2024 after rebel forces launched a rapid offensive that brought an end to his rule.

The arrest of Kayali marks another development in the efforts by Syria's post-Assad authorities to pursue individuals accused of serious abuses during the civil war.

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