Syria: Ali Kiyali Arrested, Accused of Carrying Out Massacres and Bombings in Syria and Turkey

Syrian authorities announced today the arrest of Ali Kayali, also known as Meraj Oural, who is accused of carrying out massacres during the conflict that followed the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution against Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

According to the agency, “Kayali formed an armed militia that participated alongside the forces of the fallen regime in suppressing the Syrian people during the years of the revolution, committing several massacres in various areas, most notably the Al-Bayda and Ras al-Nab’ massacres in Baniyas in 2013.”

Ahmed Zidan, the Presidential Council Advisor for Media Affairs, congratulated the Syrian people on “the arrest of the criminal known as Ali Kayali, who carried out massacres during the Syrian Revolution.” He affirmed in a post on X that the pursuit of those who committed crimes against Syrians would continue, and that every murderous criminal would be hunted down, regardless of how long it took, with no one escaping the reach of our security apparatus.

Testimonies and reports related to the two massacres included accounts of bodies scattered in streets, shops, and even basements, as well as field executions by shooting and with bladed weapons, in addition to the burning of homes and corpses.

Militias affiliated with Kayali also committed massacres against Syrians in the countryside of Latakia, Aleppo, and Idlib, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

Oural is the main suspect in the double terrorist bombing that occurred in the city of Reyhanli in Hatay province, southern Turkey, in 2013, which killed 52 citizens, according to the Anadolu Agency.

Oural (born 1956 in Hatay, Turkey) enjoyed special privileges in Syria after fleeing Turkey in 1982, as he is related by marriage to the head of the fallen regime through his wife.

Earlier this month, Turkish intelligence arrested Omar al-Khatib, one of the planners of the Reyhanli bombing, while he was attempting to flee to Europe by sea. Al-Khatib had coordinated between the attackers and elements of the former regime’s intelligence services. On the 4th of the month, security forces arrested Jamal Tripoli, Meraj Oural’s deputy.