ANKARA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) captured a key suspect in the 2013 Reyhanli bombing in a cross-border operation, the state-run TRT reported Tuesday.
Temir Dukanci, one of the alleged perpetrators of the deadly attack in Reyhanli district in Türkiye's southern province of Hatay, was apprehended while attempting to flee Syria for Lebanon, TRT cited anonymous Turkish security sources as saying.
Turkish intelligence determined that Dukanci played a role in transporting explosives into Türkiye by sea and securing the vehicles used in the attack.
MIT had been monitoring Dukanci, who was reportedly planning to escape to Lebanon. Turkish authorities also discovered that he was attempting to obtain a fake passport and to facilitate terrorist activities against Türkiye's diplomatic missions abroad.
MIT had previously captured other key suspects in the 2013 attack, including Yusuf Nazik in 2018 and Muhammed Dib Korali in January, both of whom were apprehended in Syria and brought to Türkiye.
In May 2013, 53 people were killed in a twin-car bombing in Reyhanli, marking one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Türkiye's modern history. Reyhanli, located near the Syrian border, has been home to a large population of Syrian refugees since the onset of the Syrian civil war. ■
