Libya’s military chief and 7 others killed in plane crash after takeoff from Turkey |
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief, four other officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after takeoff 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 defense talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries, Turkish officials said.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of Gen. 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.
Al-Haddad 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 Gen. Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al-Asawi Diab, advisor to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s........