Libya's army chief of staff and four others killed in plane crash

Libya's army chief of staff, Mohammed al-Haddad, and four other military officials were killed when their business jet crashed south of Ankara on Tuesday evening, Libyan and Turkish authorities said.

Turkish gendarmerie units located the wreckage of the Falcon 50 jet near Kesikkavak village in Ankara's Haymana district, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah later confirmed the deaths in a statement, saying al-Haddad and several senior military officials were killed when the aircraft crashed while returning from an official visit to Türkiye. He said the government would investigate "the circumstances of the accident."

The aircraft, with tail number 9H-DFJ, departed Ankara's Esenboga Airport at 8:10 p.m. local time bound for Tripoli. Contact was lost at 8:52 p.m., shortly after the crew issued an emergency landing notification near Haymana, Yerlikaya said.

Türkiye's Anadolu Agency broadcast footage showed a flash from the aircraft's impact and published images of debris scattered at the site. Air traffic at Ankara, which was briefly suspended following the crash, has since returned to normal, local media reported.

Al-Haddad had been in Ankara for high-level military talks. Earlier on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said he met Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of the General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.

Libya has formed an official investigation committee to look into the plane crash.

(With input from Xinhua)