The United States on Friday confirmed to have lost four of the six people onboard the KC-135 plane that crashed over Iraq on Thursday. The KC-135 refueling plane that was part of the American military campaign against Iran crashed over western Iraq after an incident involving another plane.
The US Central Command said four of the six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed dead, adding that it loss of the aircraft “was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire”.
“Four Confirmed Deceased in Loss of U.S. KC-135 Over Iraq… TAMPA, Fla. – At approximately 2 pm ET on March 12, a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq. Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.
The identities of the service members are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified, it said.
Iran military claims it struck US plane
Iran’s military, however, had claimed in a statement carried by state TV that an allied group in Iraq had downed the aircraft with a missile, killing all its crew.
Reports said on Thursday night that the second plane involved in the incident was also a KC-135 and that it landed in Israel.
The KC-135 is at least the fourth US military aircraft lost during the war in the Middle East, after three F-15s were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait, AFP news agency reported.
The crash comes amid intense drone and military exchange over the Middle East sparked by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and latter’s retaliation.
Early in the conflict, Kuwaiti forces mistakenly downed three American F-15E fighters, but all six crewmembers were able to eject, according to CENTCOM.
That incident occurred during combat including “attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones,” the military command said at the time.