Libyan army leader Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad was killed in a plane crash near the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday. This was announced by Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya on X. “There were five passengers on board the plane, including Libyan Lieutenant General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad,” Yerlikaya said.
In a statement, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibe said the death of the army chief “is a heavy and great loss for the nation, the army and the entire people.” In addition to the Libyan general, four others were on board, including other army officials and an army photographer. The private plane they traveled on was on its way back to Libya after an official visit to Ankara.
Accident
In the message on At 8:52 p.m., authorities received a request for an emergency landing, but shortly afterwards no contact was made with the aircraft.
Authorities found the wreckage of the plane near the village of Kesikkavak, south of Ankara. It is not yet clear what caused the accident. Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation into the crash has been launched.
Since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and the subsequent civil war, Libya has been divided and has two rival governments. General Haddad was army chief of the United Nations-recognized government in Tripoli. This government, the Libyan Government of National Unity, controls the west of the country and has declared three days of official mourning.
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