Libya’s army chief killed in air crash

Libya’s prime minister said the Libyan army chief was killed in an air crash in Türkiye.

General Muhammad Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and four others were on the Falcon 50 plane taking off from the Turkish capital Ankara.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on channel X that the business jet’s signal was lost at 20:52 local time (17:52 GMT) – about 42 minutes after taking off from Ankara airport.

The jet bound for Tripoli had requested an emergency landing before contact was lost.

Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognized National Unity Government, said he received the news of General Haddad’s death.

The Prime Minister added that other Libyan military officials were also on the jet.

General Haddad and his team were in Turkey for talks aimed at further strengthening military and security cooperation between the two countries.