Türkiye captures terrorist behind 2013 deadly terror attack

By Abdullah Sarica and Seda Sevencan

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) — The Turkish Intelligence Organization (MIT) captured one of the perpetrators of a deadly 2013 terrorist attack in southern Türkiye as he attempted to flee Syria for Lebanon.

According to security sources, MIT discovered that Temir Dukanci was hiding in Syria. Dukanci had assisted in smuggling explosives into Türkiye by sea and acquired vehicles to transport them for the attack in Reyhanli, a district in southern Hatay province, that killed 53 people.

The sources noted that Dukanci planned to assemble his terror network members in Lebanon to target Turkish diplomatic missions abroad and was seeking a forged passport to execute this plan.

Listed in the orange category on the Turkish Interior Ministry's list of those wanted for terrorism, Dukanci was captured during an operation along the Syria-Lebanon border and subsequently brought to Türkiye.

Türkiye's wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange, and gray.

MIT had previously brought other perpetrators of the Reyhanli attack to justice, capturing Yusuf Nazik in 2018 and Muhammed Dib Korali in January 2025 during operations in Syria.

On May 11, 2013, some 53 people were killed and many civilians injured in two separate bomb attacks in the Reyhanli district of southern Hatay Province.