Syria arrests main suspect in 2013 Baniyas mass killings
Syrian authorities have arrested Ali Kayali, a man who is also known by the name Mihrac Ural, on suspicion of involvement in the mass killing of civilians in Baniyas in 2013, Al Jazeera.
Syrian intelligence officials apprehended Kayali while he was trying to cross the border of the country, according to authorities describing the circumstances of the detention in statements about the case.
Authorities describe Kayali as a suspect who is alleged to have played a leading role in the killing of civilians in Baniyas and in the nearby village of Bayda in the western part of the country of Syria, according to the official description of the suspicions against him.
In 2013, at the time of the killings in those two locations, Kayali led an armed group that was loyal to Bashar al-Assad, who was then serving as president of Syria.
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who held the presidency in 2013 when Kayali led the armed group, was toppled in the month of December of 2024.
Syria’s General Intelligence Service, the intelligence body named by officials in connection with the case, carried out the arrest operation targeting Kayali, who officials also identify under the name Mihrac Ural.
SANA, Syria’s state news agency, reported on October 15, 2026 that Kayali had been arrested as the main suspect in what it described as the 2013 Baniyas massacre, SANA.
Syrian presidential media adviser Zaidan welcomed the news of the arrest of Mihrac Ural, according to the agency’s account of the official reaction to the detention.
