Libyan army chief killed in plane crash in Turkey

The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, has died in a plane crash near the Turkish capital, Ankara, minutes after the private jet he was travelling in took off from an airport. The crash on Tuesday killed everyone on board. They included four other high-ranking military officials and three crew members. Turkish officials said that initial investigations have ruled out sabotage and instead point to a technical failure as the cause of the crash.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of al-Haddad and the four officers, saying the “tragic accident” took place as the delegation was returning home. Al-Haddad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing United Nations-brokered efforts to unify the country, which has been divided since the NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The four other officers who died in the crash were General Al-Fitouri Gharibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces; Brigadier General Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the Military Manufacturing Authority; Muhammad Al-Asawi Diab, an adviser to the chief of staff; and Muhammad Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s office. According to Turkish officials, the Libyan delegation was in Ankara for high-level defence talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Turkish Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya said that al-Haddad’s plane took off from Ankara’s Esenboga airport at 8:10pm local time (17:10 GMT) en route to Tripoli, and that radio contact was lost about 40 minutes later. He said authorities found the plane’s wreckage near the Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district. Burhanettin Duran, the head of the Turkish presidential communications office, said the plane notified air traffic control of an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing. The aircraft was redirected back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing began. The plane, however, disappeared from the radar while descending for the emergency landing, Duran said.