Libya’s prime minister announced on Tuesday that a Libyan military commander had died in a plane crash while returning from an official visit to Turkey.
Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah said in a statement that Lieutenant General Mohamed al-Haddad died along with four of his colleagues in a “tragic accident” while returning to Tripoli from an official visit to Ankara.
Al-Dbeibah added: “With great sadness and sadness, we heard the news of the death of Al-Haddad and his four companions.” The prime minister, who heads the United Nations-backed Government of National Unity, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and said the loss was a tragedy for the country and the military establishment.
Mr. Aldbeiba identified the other four killed as: Major General Al-Fituri Grebel, Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces; Director General of the Munitions Production Bureau, Brig. General Mahmoud Al Qatiwi. Advisor to the Libyan military chief of staff, Mohammed al-Assawi Diab. and Mohamed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a photographer from the media office.
Turkish broadcaster CNNTurk reported that the plane had a crew of three people, all of whom were French.
Turkish authorities earlier announced that the business jet carrying al-Haddad and others lost contact shortly after departing from Ankara on Tuesday night.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced at 8:52 p.m. local time that airport authorities had lost contact with a Falcon 50 business jet (tail number 9H-DFJ) that took off from Ankara Esenboga Airport at 8:10 p.m. en route to Tripoli.
“We received an emergency landing notification from the aircraft near Haimana, but contact with the aircraft could not be regained after that,” Yerlikaya said. Haimana is located approximately 81 kilometers southwest of Ankara.
In a later statement, Yerlikaya said Turkish forces had reached the plane’s “wreckage” about 2 kilometers south of the village of Kesikkavak in Haimana district.
CNNTurk reported that the plane declared an electrical emergency and requested to return to the airport before losing communications.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunku said an investigation into the crash had been launched and would examine “all aspects with the utmost care.”
The Turkish Armed Forces announced early Tuesday that al-Haddad was formally welcomed to Ankara in a military ceremony as an official guest. After the ceremony, he held bilateral talks with Türkiye’s Chief of General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.
