Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has captured Omer al-Khatib, a Syrian national suspected of involvement in the 2013 terrorist attack in Reyhanli that killed 53 people, security sources said Thursday.

According to the sources, al-Khatib was detained while preparing to escape to Europe by sea. He was wanted under an Interpol Red Notice and is accused of helping plan and organize the attack in the Turkish town, as well as maintaining coordination between the perpetrators and intelligence officials linked to Bashar al-Assad, The Caspian Post reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

The sources said al-Khatib brought Yusuf Nazik, who was planning operations against Türkiye, together with Kifah Melhem in 2013. Details of the attack were established during their meetings.

Al-Khatib and Nazik entered Türkiye through Hatay in February 2013, before the attack, and identified the locations that were to be targeted. The plan received approval from Melhem, who was based in Latakia, according to the sources.

In May 2013, shortly before the attack, al-Khatib accompanied Temir Dukanci to the Latakia branch of military intelligence, where they obtained materials intended for the explosive device.

Dukanci and Nazik then transported the vehicle loaded with explosives to Reyhanli, where it was detonated remotely.

Following the attack, al-Khatib took Dukanci and Nazik, who had escaped to Syria, to the Latakia branch of military intelligence.

The sources said al-Khatib and others involved in carrying out the attack received financial rewards from the Bashar al-Assad regime.

MIT began efforts to capture those responsible immediately after the Reyhanli attack and closely monitored al-Khatib's activities in Syria, as it did with other suspects.

MIT captured al-Khatib as he was preparing to flee to Europe by sea and subsequently brought him to Türkiye.

Nazik, one of the perpetrators and planners of the attack, was captured in 2018; Cengiz Sertel in 2024, and Muhammed Dib Korali and Dukanci were captured in 2025.

Maj. Gen. Kifah Melhem in Syria, who gave the order for the Reyhanli attack, was appointed by Bashar al-Assad as head of the National Security Bureau in February 2024.

Melhem is known to have fled abroad following the fall of the Assad regime.