Libyan army chief killed in plane crash near Turkiye’s capital, Ankara

Libya’s PM confirms that four other Libyan passengers also died after the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.Published On 23 Dec 2025Libya’s army ​chief of staff, Mohammed ‍Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, and four other Libyan passengers have been killed in an air crash near the Turkish capital, ‍Ankara, Libya’s prime minister has said.Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said in a statement that the crash on Tuesday was a “tragic accident”, which occurred while officials were returning from a trip to Ankara.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Turkiye jails top-tier players pending trial in gambling probelist 2 of 4Russia damages Turkish-owned vessels in attacks on two Ukrainian portslist 3 of 4Brawl breaks out in Turkish parliament on last day of budget talkslist 4 of 4Minorities hail renewed space as Pope Leo visits Turkiyeend of list“This great tragedy is a great loss for the nation, the military establishment, and all the people, as we have lost men who served their country with sincerity and dedication and were an example of discipline, responsibility, and national commitment,” he said in the statement.He said that the other people killed in the crash were the ground forces chief of staff, Al-Fitouri Gharibil, the director of the Military Manufacturing Authority, Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, an adviser to al-Haddad, Muhammad Al-Asawi Diab, and a military photographer, Muhammad Omar Ahmed Mahjoub.A senior Turkish official said three crew members also died in the crash and that the plane requested an emergency landing because of an electrical failure.“A private jet carrying Libyan Chief of General Staff Mohammed al-Haddad, four members of his entourage and three crew members reported an emergency to the air traffic control centre due to an electrical failure, asking for an emergency landing,” Burhanettin Duran, head of the presidency’s communications directorate, said on X.Turkish Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunc said that the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the incident.A Turkish official told Al Jazeera that: “Initial reports from the investigation rule out any sabotage to the Libyan Army Chief plane crash, initial cause is technical failure.”Turkiye’s Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya said on X that the plane had disappeared shortly after taking off from the Turkish capital.“The wreckage of the business jet that departed Ankara’s Esenboga airport for Tripoli has been located by Turkish gendarmerie approximately two kilometres [1.2 miles] south of Kesikkavak village in the Haymana district”, 74km (45 miles) from Ankara, he said.Yerlikaya said earlier on X that the Falcon 50 business jet had taken ​off at ‌8:10pm (17:10 GMT) on Tuesday, and radio contact was lost at 8:52pm (17:52 GMT).Several Turkish media outlets broadcast images showing the sky lit up by an explosion not far from the location where the aircraft sent the signal.Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said the delegation had arrived in Turkiye in “a private jet that was rented by the Libyan government from an outside company”.Turkiye’s ‌Ministry of Defence had announced the Libyan chief of staff’s visit ‌to Ankara this ‌week, saying ⁠he had met his Turkish counterpart and other military commanders.Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina, reporting from Tripoli, said he knew al-Haddad personally and that his death would be a “huge loss” to the Libyan military.“He was a career military man, someone that everybody respected, and he went by the book,” Traina said.“He was someone that people here in Western Libya really respected, someone who always adhered to the law and followed the rules, and he didn’t take side with any militias, no matter how powerful they were.“It is a really huge loss to the Libyan military institution.”Traina said that while al-Haddad was in the military for decades, he played a prominent role on the side of the rebels during the uprising against former leader Muammar Gaddafi.Tuesday’s crash occurred a day ‌after Turkiye’s parliament passed a decision to extend the mandate ⁠of Turkish soldiers’ deployment in Libya by two more years.Ankara has close ties with the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, which it provides with economic and military support.In 2020, it sent military personnel there to train and support the government, and later reached a maritime demarcation ‌accord.In 2022, Ankara and Tripoli also signed a preliminary accord on energy exploration.According to Koseoglu, the latest visit involved meetings about “bilateral cooperation” in security and defence.