A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief, four other officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after take-off from Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.
The Libyan delegation was in Ankara for high-level defence talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries, Turkish officials said.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of General Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad and the four officers, saying in a statement on Facebook that the “tragic accident” took place as the delegation was returning home. The prime minister called it a “great loss” for Libya.
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Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, much like Libya’s institutions.
The four other officers who died in the crash were General Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brigadier General 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.
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