Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah has confirmed the news of the death of the country’s army chief of staff, Mohammad Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad after his aircraft lost radio contact in Turkey’s airspace.
Dbeibah announced the death of Haddad on Tuesday evening, December 23, as reported by Reuters.
The prime minister officially issued a statement mourning the loss of the chief of army staff noting he was accompanied by other military officials on the flight as well.
Earlier, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed finding wreckage of the lost plane.
The plane was enroute to Tripoli from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport.
However, it lost radio contact 42 minutes after its departure.
In the last communication, aircraft reported an emergency landing request over the Haymana district.
The Libyan military delegation including Haddad had been in Turkey for official meetings with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and senior Turkish military commanders earlier in the day.
