Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, the chief of staff of the Libyan army, tragically died in a plane crash after departing from Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday evening. Libya's internationally recognised government confirmed the death through its prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who stated that four other individuals were also on board the jet. The prime minister described the incident as a "tragic and painful" loss for the nation, its military institution, and all its people, occurring as they returned from an official trip to the Turkish capital.

Among those accompanying al-Haddad on the ill-fated aircraft were the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of its military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff’s office. The plane, identified as a Dassault Falcon 50-type jet, had taken off from Ankara’s Esenboğa airport at 17:10 GMT, bound for Tripoli. Radio contact with the aircraft was lost at 17:52 GMT, as reported by Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on X.

Search and rescue operations located the plane’s wreckage near Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district. Yerlikaya further noted that the jet had requested an emergency landing while flying over Haymana, but no subsequent contact was established. The precise cause of the crash remains undetermined.

The incident occurred shortly after al-Haddad's official visit to Turkey, where he had met with high-ranking Turkish officials. The Turkish defence ministry had previously announced his visit, confirming meetings with Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Turkish counterpart Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, alongside other Turkish military commanders.

Significantly, the crash took place just one day after Turkey’s parliament approved a decision to extend the mandate for Turkish soldiers' deployment in Libya by an additional two years. As a NATO member, Turkey has been a steadfast military and political supporter of Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognised government. In 2020, Turkey dispatched military personnel to Libya to train and assist the government and subsequently entered into a maritime demarcation accord, which has drawn opposition from Egypt and Greece. Furthermore, in 2022, Ankara and Tripoli signed a preliminary agreement for energy exploration, which also faced objections from Egypt and Greece.

However, Turkey has recently shifted its foreign policy approach towards Libya under its "One Libya" initiative. This new strategy involves increasing engagement and contacts with Libya’s eastern faction in addition to its ongoing support for the Tripoli-based government, indicating a broader diplomatic effort in the region.