Ankara prosecutors probe fatal crash involving Libyan army command

Turkish authorities have formally launched an investigation into the crash of a private aircraft carrying Libya’s Chief of the General Staff, Mohamed Al-Haddad, and four accompanying officials, after the wreckage was located south of the capital, Ankara.

Turkey’s Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said security forces had reached the crash site, approximately two kilometres from the village of Kesik Kavak in the Haymana district.

In a statement, Yerlikaya confirmed that gendarmerie units located the wreckage following the aircraft’s disappearance shortly after take-off from Esenboğa Airport, from where it had been due to fly to Tripoli.

Turkey’s Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened a formal investigation into the incident. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said four prosecutors had been assigned to the case under the supervision of a deputy chief prosecutor, stressing that the inquiry would examine all aspects of the crash with “the utmost precision”.

Libyan authorities confirmed on Tuesday evening that Field Marshal Mohamed Al-Haddad was killed in the crash, along with several senior military and civilian figures, during the return journey to Libya.

Those travelling with Al-Haddad were:
• Al-Fitouri Gharbil, Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces
• Mahmoud Al-Fadewi, Head of the Military Manufacturing Authority
• Mohamed Al-Assawi, legal adviser
• Mohamed Al-Mahjoub, photographer

The cause of the crash has not yet been disclosed. Turkish authorities said further details would be released as the investigation progresses.