News & Photos: Top Islamist among dead as Libya plane crashes in Tunisia

A medical plane carrying a former jihadist turned member of Libya's first transitional government crashed south of Tunis early this morning, Fri Feb.21, killing all 11 on board, Tunisian and Libyan officials said.

The aircraft came down in a field on the edge of Nianou village, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital, without hitting any houses, and burst into flames, an AFP journalist reported.

The Libyan flag was still visible on the tailplane amid the charred wreckage, which belonged to the Libyan air force.

"The plane crashed at 1:30 am (0030 GMT)... with 11 people on board -- three doctors, two patients and six crew members," emergency services spokesman Mongi El Kadhi said.

"The whole plane was completely burnt out. The emergency services went to the crash site and recovered the charred bodies." 

The plane was transporting Meftah al-Mabrouk Issa al-Dhawadi to Tunis from a military airfield near Tripoli for medical treatment, the Libyan government said in a statement.

Another unidentified patient was on the plane, according to the statement, adding that they were accompanied by four people, including a doctor, and five crew.

Dhawadi was a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) -- a now disbanded movement with alleged links to Al-Qaeda which joined the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Several members of the group served in the transitional government of Abdelrahim al-Kib, which held power for a year from November 2011. Dhawadi was undersecretary at the ministry of martyrs and missing persons.

Libya's deputy defence minister Khaled al-Cherif, himself a former LIFG member, confirmed on Facebook that the group's former leader had died in the plane crash.

- 'Engine on fire' message - Tunis air traffic control official Sofiene Bejaoui said the aircraft was a Soviet-designed twin-engine turboprop.

"According to the air traffic controller who spoke to him last, the pilot's final message was 'Engine on fire'," he said.

"The plane is a Libyan air force Antonov-26, registration number Five Alpha Delta Oscar Whiskey," Bejaoui said.

Mohammed ben Mohammed Elechi told AFP he was still awake when the aircraft hit the ground.

"I was awake at 1:20 am and I was the first to see the plane crash here. The front of the plane crashed first, then it burst into a big fire." Firemen battled during the night to extinguish the flames that engulfed the wreckage.