The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, tragically died in a plane crash on Tuesday after departing from Türkiye’s capital, Ankara, as confirmed by the prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognised government.
The prime minister also stated that four others were aboard the jet.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah expressed his sorrow in a statement, describing the incident as a "tragic and painful" event while they were returning from an official visit to Ankara. He noted that this significant loss was a great blow to the nation, the military institution, and the people. The prime minister also revealed that the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of its military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff's office were also on the aircraft.
Türkiye's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported on social media platform X that the plane had taken off from Esenboga Airport in Ankara at 17:10 GMT, bound for Tripoli, but radio contact was lost at 17:52 GMT. Authorities later located the wreckage of the plane near the Kesikkavak village in Ankara's Haymana district. Yerlikaya added that the Dassault Falcon 50-type jet had requested an emergency landing while over Haymana, but no further contact had been made.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
Earlier, Türkiye’s Defence Ministry had announced Haddad’s visit, confirming that he had met with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish counterpart Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, and other senior military officials.
The crash occurred the day after Türkiye's parliament voted to extend the mandate for the deployment of Turkish soldiers in Libya for an additional two years.
As a NATO member, Türkiye has been a key military and political supporter of Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognised government. In 2020, it deployed military personnel to train and assist the government, and the two countries reached a maritime demarcation agreement, which has been contested by Egypt and Greece.
In 2022, Türkiye and Tripoli also signed a preliminary agreement for energy exploration, which Egypt and Greece also opposed. However, Türkiye has recently shifted its approach under its "One Libya" policy, increasing diplomatic engagement with Libya’s eastern faction.
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