Libya's military chief killed as private jet crashes near Ankara after takeoff

A common soldier gush carrying socialist people's libyan arab jamahiriya’s top out armed services commander and senior officers crashed in central Turkey on Tuesday night after taking off from Ankara, killing everyone on board, Libyan and Turkish officials said. Authorities said the aircraft suffered a technical malfunction and disappeared from radar while attempting an emergency landing.

Libya’s internationally recognised government confirmed that Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, the country’s military chief of staff, died in the crash along with four other officers and three crew members whose identities were not immediately known. Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah described the incident as a “tragic accident” and a “great loss” for Libya in a statement posted on Facebook.

The Dassault Falcon 50 business jet had departed from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport on Tuesday evening, heading back to Libya after a high-level defence visit. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the plane took off around 8:30 p.m. Local time and lost contact roughly 40 minutes later, after issuing an emergency landing signal near Haymana.

Turkish officials later located the wreckage near the village of Kesikkavak in Haymana district, about 70 kilometres south of the capital. Burhanettin Duran, head of the presidential communications office, said the crew had reported an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing, prompting air traffic controllers to redirect the aircraft back to Esenboga. The plane, however, vanished from radar while descending.

Security camera footage aired by local television channels showed the night sky over Haymana briefly lighting up in what appeared to be an explosion. Ankara’s airport was temporarily closed and several flights were diverted following the incident.

Along with al-Haddad, those killed included Gen Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, head of Libya’s ground forces; Brig Gen Mahmoud al-Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority; Mohammed al-Asawi Diab, adviser to the chief of staff; and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s office.

Al-Haddad, appointed chief of staff in 2020, was the top military commander in western Libya and played a key role in United Nations-backed efforts to reunify the country’s fractured armed forces. Libya has remained divided since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Moammar Gaddafi, with rival administrations and militias entrenched in the east and west.

The Libyan delegation had been in Ankara for talks aimed at deepening military cooperation. During the visit, al-Haddad met Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and senior military officials. The trip came just a day after Turkey’s parliament approved a two-year extension of the mandate for Turkish troops deployed in Libya under a 2019 security agreement.

Turkey, a key ally of Libya’s Tripoli-based government, said four prosecutors have been appointed to investigate the crash. Libya will also send a team to Ankara to participate in the inquiry alongside Turkish authorities, according to a government statement.

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