Turkey on Saturday held a military funeral in Ankara for five Libyan officers killed in a plane crash, including western Libya’s top military commander, Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad. The ceremony underscored the close defence ties between both countries amid Libya’s fragile security situation.
The private jet carrying the Libyan delegation crashed shortly after takeoff from Ankara on Tuesday, killing all on board. The victims included al-Haddad, four other senior officers, and three crew members. Libyan authorities said a technical fault caused the crash.
Al-Haddad was a key figure in Libya’s western military command and played a central role in United Nations-backed efforts to reunify the country’s divided armed forces. His death is seen as a major setback to ongoing security coordination in the conflict-scarred nation.
The Libyan officers had been in Turkey for defence discussions aimed at strengthening military cooperation between Ankara and Tripoli. They were returning to Libya’s capital when the aircraft went down.
The funeral took place at 8:00 a.m. local time at Murted Airfield near Ankara. Turkey’s defence minister and military chief attended the ceremony, where the five coffins, draped in Libyan national flags, were honoured before being flown back to Libya.
Turkey’s military chief accompanied the remains on the flight to Tripoli, according to state media. The gesture highlighted Ankara’s continued support for Libya’s western-based government.
Following the crash, the victims’ bodies were taken to the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Turkey’s justice minister said DNA testing was conducted with assistance from family members who arrived from Libya as part of a 22-person delegation.
German authorities were also asked to assist in examining the aircraft’s black boxes to ensure an impartial investigation into the cause of the crash.
Libya has remained unstable since the 2011 uprising that ended Moammar Gadhafi’s rule. The country remains divided between rival eastern and western administrations, backed by competing militias and foreign allies. Turkey has long supported Libya’s western government, while recently attempting to improve relations with the east.
