December 25, 2025 | 12:02 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Libya announced a three-day national mourning on Tuesday, December 23, 2025 following the deaths of the Chief of Staff of the Army, Mohammed al-Haddad, and four senior military officials in a plane crash near the capital of Turkey, Ankara. In a statement, the Government of National Unity of Libya expressed condolences to the families of the victims and their colleagues in the Libyan Armed Forces.
The statement mentioned that during the three days of mourning period, all state institutions will fly flags at half-mast, and official ceremonies and celebrations will be postponed.
The Government of National Unity expressed deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the deceased and their colleagues in the armed forces, praying that Almighty God bestows "His vast mercy upon them, grants them eternal rest in His spacious gardens, and blesses their families and loved ones with patience and solace," as stated in the announcement quoted from Anadolu.
Libya's Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh instructed the Ministry of Defense to send an official delegation to Ankara to coordinate directly with the Turkish authorities and review the accident.
The tragedy coincides with the celebration of Libya's Independence Day, scheduled for December 24-25, marking 74 years since the country's liberation from Italian occupation. This year's Independence Day will be commemorated during the national mourning period.
The Chair of the Presidential Council of Libya, Mohamed Menfi, also expressed condolences for the deaths of Haddad and the four senior military officials. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had previously stated that the wreckage of the Falcon 50 jet bound for Tripoli, carrying Haddad, was found south of Haymana near Ankara.
The black box and cockpit voice recorder were found in the early hours of Wednesday, December 24, 2025, from the wreckage of the private jet that crashed near Ankara a day earlier. According to Yerlikaya, the wreckage area is scattered over an approximately three-square-kilometer area, indicating a wide range of destruction resulting from the incident.
"As a result of the work carried out at the scene by teams from the Transportation Safety Investigation Center of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the aircraft’s voice recorder was recovered in the wreckage area at 2:45 a.m. (2345GMT Tuesday), and the black box was found at 3:20 a.m. (local time),” Yerlikaya was quoted as saying by Anadolu.
“We are also very curious about [the cause of the crash], but this data will reveal the cause, and the authorities will share the findings with you,” Yerlikaya said.
He added that the process of examining and evaluating both devices has begun to uncover the cause of the accident comprehensively and objectively.
Read: Libya's Military Chief Dies in Plane Crash in Turkiye
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