Reyhanlı bombing fugitive Mihraç Ural captured in joint MİT-Syrian operation

Mihraç Ural, a red-category fugitive wanted over the Reyhanlı bombings that killed 53 people, was captured on the Syrian border in an operation coordinated by Türkiye’s MİT and Syria’s General Intelligence Service. The first images of him in custody have been released.

Mihraç Ural, a terrorist on Türkiye’s red-category wanted list, was captured in an operation coordinated by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and Syria’s General Intelligence Service. According to security sources, Ural was seized on the night of Oct. 14 while trying to cross the border in Syria.

Ural had reportedly been hiding in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime; information on his movements was shared between the two services, and he was caught while trying to relocate for fear of capture. Syria’s state news agency SANA announced the capture of Ural, also known as "Ali Kayyali," and released a photo of him in detention.

Ambassador Yılmaz: "Praise be to God"

Mihraç Ural in custody

Türkiye’s ambassador in Damascus, Nuh Yılmaz, wrote after the capture: "Praise be to God! May our wrath fall upon the enemy! I seek refuge in God. Endless thanks to God!" Syrian presidential media adviser Ahmed Muwaffaq Zaidan congratulated Syrian intelligence and the Interior Ministry.

The Reyhanlı bombing and the Banias massacre

Two car bombs exploded on May 11, 2013, in Reyhanlı, Hatay province, killing 53 people. Ural was among the defendants in the case. Other suspects were captured earlier: Yusuf Nazik in 2018, Muhammed Dib Korali and Temir Dükancı in 2025, and Ömer el-Hatip in 2026.

A leading figure in the Acilciler group, which split from THKP-C, Ural fled to Syria in 1982. He developed close ties with the Assad family, and the "Syrian Resistance" militia he led, which operated in rural Latakia and the Bayırbucak Turkmen region, is held responsible for the Banias and Bayda massacres in Tartus. Celebrations were held in Banias and Bayda after his capture.

Reyhanlı bombing fugitive Mihraç Ural captured in joint MİT-Syrian operation