Libya's army chief killed in air crash in Turkey

The Libyan army chief has been killed in an air crash in Turkey, Libya's prime minister has said.

Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and four others were on board a Falcon 50 aircraft flying out of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

In a post on X, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said signal with the business jet was lost at 20:52 local time (17:52 GMT) - about 42 minutes after it took off from Ankara's airport.

The Tripoli-bound jet had issued an emergency landing request before contact was lost.

Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the prime minister of Libya's internationally-recognised Government of National Unity, said he had received news of the death of Gen Haddad.

The prime minister added that other Libyan military officials were on board the jet.

Gen Haddad and his team had been in Turkey for talks aimed at further strengthening military and security co-operation between the two countries.