Suspect in 2013 Reyhanlı Bombings Apprehended While Fleeing Syria

Syrian authorities announced the capture of Mihraç Ural, a principal defendant in the 2013 Reyhanlı twin car bombings that left 53 dead and caused extensive property damage. Ural, who escaped Turkey in 1982 after a prison term for illegal organizational activity, was seized while attempting to flee Syria. During his years in Syria he cultivated close connections with Jamil Assad, brother of former Syrian leader Hafez Assad, through his wife Malak Fadel, a relative of the Assad dynasty, which reportedly boosted his wealth and influence.

The arrest comes days after the Interior Ministry reported the detention of Cemal Trablusi, the Aleppo office director of the militant group Mukawama Suriya. Both arrests are part of a broader effort to address the 2013 attack that devastated Reyhanlı, a town in Turkey’s Hatay province near the Syrian border. Court records indicated the blasts damaged hundreds of homes, businesses and vehicles. The developments were.