Syria.. After his arrest, who is Ali Kayali, “Miraj Oral,” accused of the Baniyas massacre?

On Thursday, the Syrian authorities announced the arrest of Ali Kayali, known as “Miraj Ural,” who is accused of being one of the most prominent officials responsible for the Baniyas massacre in 2013, while he was trying to flee across the border. Who is Ali Kayali “Miraj Ural”? According to a report published by the Syrian News Agency, Kayali “was born in 1956 in the Turkish state of Hatay, and enjoyed special privileges in Syria after fleeing Turkey in 1982, by virtue of his kinship with the president of the former regime through his wife called Malak al-Fadil.”

The agency stated that Kayali "is considered one of the planners of the bombing that was orchestrated by the intelligence of the former regime in the Turkish city of Reyhanli in May 2013, which resulted in the death of 53 people and the injury of dozens, in addition to extensive material damage, according to what was reported by Yusuf Nazik, who was arrested by Turkish intelligence in September 2018." The agency stated in a report that Kayali “formed an armed militia that participated alongside the forces of the former regime in suppressing the Syrian people during the years of the revolution, and committed several massacres in different areas, most notably the massacres of Al-Bayda and Ras Al-Nabaa in Baniyas. According to what was documented by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Al-Bayda massacre resulted in the martyrdom of 264 civilians, including 36 children and 28 One woman, while the Ras al-Nabaa massacre led to the death of 195 civilians, including 56 children and 43 women.”

The report indicated that "Kayali's militias committed massacres against Syrians in the countryside of Latakia, Aleppo and Idlib, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries."