Army chief of Libya’s Tripoli government and four other senior military officials were killed Tuesday in a plane crash after take-off from Turkey’s capital, Ankara. The Libyan delegation was in Ankara for high-level defense talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries. According to Libyan authorities, the plane, a Falcon 50 type business jet, experienced a technical malfunction. Shortly after taking off from Ankara’s Esenboga airport, the plane requested an emergency landing near Haymana after an electrical deficiency. Turkish air traffic controllers then lost contact with the plane while it was on its emergency landing descent.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 24, 2025 19:28 UTC