Syria arrests suspect in 2013 Baniyas coastal massacres

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 08:58 · Archive

Syrian authorities have arrested Ali Kayali, accused of leading militias responsible for mass killings of civilians in 2013.

Syrian authorities have arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, a militia commander accused of orchestrating mass killings in the coastal Baniyas region in 2013. State media said he was apprehended while attempting to flee the country, though the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited unnamed sources claiming he was taken from his home in the Mansourieh area of Lebanon by armed men. Lebanese authorities have not commented on the report.

Kayali, 70, led armed groups affiliated with ousted president Bashar al-Assad. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, at least 264 civilians, including 36 children and 28 women, were killed in Bayda, and 195 people, including 56 children, were killed in Ras al-Nabaa. Human Rights Watch described the killings in 2013 as 'one of the deadliest instances of mass executions in Syria's increasingly bloody conflict'. Militias affiliated with Kayali are also accused of committing massacres in Latakia, Aleppo and Idlib.

Kayali was born in the Turkish city of Antakya in 1956 and fled to Syria in 1982, obtaining Syrian citizenship. Turkey's state news agency reported that Kayali is also the main suspect in 2013 twin bombings in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, which killed at least 52 people.

How it is being reported

• Syria arrests 'Butcher of Baniyas' accused of 2013 coastal massacresAli Kayali, 70, known as Mihrac Ural, commanded al-Assad-affiliated militia forces that carried out summary executions of more than 450 civilians in Bayda and Baniyas in May 2013.Euronews · 16 Oct, 08:33
• Syrian authorities arrest main suspect in 2013 Baniyas mass killingsAli Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, was apprehended as he tried to cross the border, state media reported.Al Jazeera · 15 Oct, 12:12

In this story: Ali Kayali · Bashar al-Assad · Baniyas · Syria · Human Rights Watch · Syrian Network for Human Rights

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