Libya's army chief General Mohamed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad has died in a plane crash in Turkey. Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death following the Tuesday evening crash, describing it as a "tragic and painful" loss for the nation.
The Dassault Falcon 50 business jet crashed shortly after departing from Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 20:10 local time. The aircraft was en route to Tripoli when contact was lost at 20:52, approximately 42 minutes after takeoff.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed on his X social media page: "Contact with the Falcon 50 type business jet, tail number 9H-DFJ, which took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 20:10 this evening en route to Tripoli, has been lost as of 20:52."
The aircraft had requested an emergency landing near Haymana before contact was definitively lost. "An emergency landing notification was received from the aircraft near Haymana; however, contact with the aircraft could not be re-established afterward," Yerlikaya wrote.
Four other Libyans were on board, including the commander of Libya's ground forces, the director of Libya's military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff's office. The jet also carried two pilots and one cabin crew member.
Eyewitnesses reportedly heard two explosions near the airport, and CCTV cameras showed the night sky suddenly lighting up. Search and rescue teams located wreckage near Kesikkavak village in Ankara's Haymana district. Photos and video images reportedly showing debris have circulated on social media.
Defence Cooperation Talks
General Al-Haddad had been in Ankara for high-level discussions on defence cooperation and regional security. He met with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Güler and his Turkish counterpart, General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, along with other Turkish military commanders.
The crash occurred just one day after Turkey's parliament extended the mandate for Turkish military deployment in Libya by two more years. Turkey has provided military and political support to Libya's internationally recognised government in Tripoli since 2020, when it began sending personnel for training and support.
The two countries signed a maritime demarcation accord in 2020 and a preliminary energy exploration accord in 2022, both opposed by Egypt and Greece. Turkey has recently adopted a "One Libya" policy, expanding contacts to include Libya's eastern faction alongside the Tripoli government.
"Great Loss for the Nation"
Prime Minister Dbeibah stated the incident occurred "while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara." He called it "a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people."
An unnamed Libyan Interior Minister indicated that initial evidence pointed to a technical malfunction as the cause of the crash. The exact cause remains under investigation.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
