Libyan army chief killed in plane crash

The Libyan army’s chief of staff, General Muhammad Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, has been killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, officials have confirmed. A private jet carrying al-Haddad and other senior Libyan military officials went down late on Tuesday southwest of Ankara.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said in a Facebook post that several other senior military officials were also killed in the crash involving a Dassault Falcon 50 jet. The delegation were in Türkiye for talks earlier in the day.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed that the country’s ground services lost contact with the jet some 40 minutes after it took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport. Before communications ceased, the aircraft had requested an emergency landing.

The aircraft had five passengers on board, including al-Haddad, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces Lieutenant General Al-Futuri Ghribil, and the head of the Military Manufacturing Authority, Brigadier General Mahmoud Al-Ghadiwi.

In a follow-up statement, the minister said that emergency crews have located the debris of the aircraft, confirming the crash.

CCTV footage circulating online purports to show a massive blast lighting up skies above the Turkish capital and believed to be linked to the plane’s crash. It was not immediately clear whether the pictured explosion occurred mid-air or on the ground.

“This grievous loss is a great blow to the nation, to the military institution, and to all the Libyan people, as we have lost men who served their country with sincerity, dedication, discipline, responsibility, and national commitment,” the PM wrote.

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