Syria: Arrest of Ali Kayali, the 'Butcher of Baniyas and Baniyas'

Syrian authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of Ali Kayali, known by the alias “Ma’raj Ural,” who is accused of being responsible for the execution of hundreds of civilians in 2013.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the General Intelligence Directorate had arrested the individual known as Ali Kayali, alias “Ma’raj Ural,” noting that he is the main suspect in the massacre carried out in the coastal city of Baniyas in 2013.

In 2013, forces loyal to the Assad regime executed 248 people in the towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in western Syria, according to Human Rights Watch at the time.

According to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, Kayali, born in 1956, hails from Hatay province, which borders Syria in southern Turkey. He led an armed group loyal to Bashar al-Assad and fought alongside government forces.

He fled to Syria from a Turkish prison in 1982.

In Turkey, he is accused of being among the planners of two bombings that targeted the border area of Reyhanli, Syria, killing 53 people, with support from Syrian intelligence at the time.

In early October, Turkey arrested a main suspect in the bloody double attack, identified as Omar al-Khatib, who is accused of coordinating the operation between the perpetrators and Syrian intelligence officials during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, according to official Turkish media.

Ahmad Muwaffaq Zaydan, the presidential advisor for media affairs, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) commenting on Kayali’s arrest: “We congratulate our people on the arrest by the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, of the criminal (...) who carried out massacres against our people during the Syrian revolution, including the al-Bayda massacre in Baniyas.” He added, “Every murderous criminal will be hunted down.”