Libya’s army chief dies in plane crash in Turkey

The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, has been killed in a plane crash after leaving Turkey’s capital, Ankara.The prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognised government confirmed on Tuesday evening that Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad had died and that four others were on the jet with him.“This followed a tragic and painful incident while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people,” the Libyan prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, said.Rescue operations following the crash of a Libya-bound business jet carrying Libyan military chief Muhammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad. Photograph: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty ImagesHe said 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.The Turkish interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said on X that the plane had taken off from Ankara’s Esenboğa airport at 17:10 GMT en route to Tripoli, and that radio contact was lost at 17:52 GMT.Debris pieces, believed to belong to the aircraft, are found during a search and rescue operation after a Libya-bound private jet carrying the Libyan army chief lost contact with the control tower in Turkey on 23 December 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesHe said authorities found the plane’s wreckage near the Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district.Yerlikaya added that the Dassault Falcon 50-type jet had made a request for an emergency landing while over Haymana, but that no contact was established.The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.Turkey’s defence ministry had announced Haddad’s visit earlier, saying he had met with the Turkish defence minister, Yaşar Güler, and Turkish counterpart, Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, along with other Turkish military commanders.Libya's ambassador to Turkey, Mustafa al-Kulaib, receives information at the scene as search and rescue operations continue. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesThe crash occurred a day after Turkey’s parliament passed a decision to extend the mandate of Turkish soldiers’ deployment in Libya by two more years.Nato member Turkey has militarily and politically supported Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognised government. In 2020, it sent military personnel there to train and support its government and later reached a maritime demarcation accord, which has been disputed by Egypt and Greece.In 2022, Ankara and Tripoli also signed a preliminary accord on energy exploration, which Egypt and Greece also oppose.However, Turkey has recently switched course under its “One Libya” policy, ramping up contacts with Libya’s eastern faction as well.