Six U.S. airmen were killed when a U.S. military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday during an in-flight incident involving another aircraft, U.S. Central Command said Friday. The military said the loss was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
- Six crew members confirmed dead; investigation underway
- Crash involved a second aircraft that landed safely
- U.S. says no hostile or friendly fire; Iran-backed group claims responsibility
- Deaths bring U.S. toll to 13 since operations against Iran began Feb. 28
- Advertisement -
Central Command said the circumstances of the crash are under investigation, but added in a statement: “The loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.” A U.S. official told Reuters the second aircraft involved in the incident — which landed safely — was also a KC-135, the military’s workhorse aerial refueling plane.
The aircraft went down in western Iraq, a region that has seen heavy U.S. air activity as Washington surges assets into the Middle East for operations against Iran. The crash underscores the inherent dangers of high-tempo missions and of aerial refueling operations, which keep combat and surveillance aircraft aloft for extended periods.
The six deaths add to seven U.S. service members previously killed since the United States began operations against Iran on Feb. 28, bringing the overall death toll to 13. The first seven were killed when a drone struck a U.S. military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Shortly after the crash, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility for downing the aircraft. The U.S. military has denied that hostile fire played any role.
The KC-135, built by Boeing in the late 1950s and early 1960s, has long been the backbone of U.S. aerial refueling — a critical capability that allows fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft to reach distant targets and remain on station without landing.
Reuters reported Tuesday that as many as 150 U.S. troops have been wounded in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. News of the Iraq crash came the same day two sailors were injured aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford in a non-combat-related fire.
President Donald Trump and senior U.S. officials have warned that the conflict with Iran is likely to result in additional American military casualties as Tehran and allied groups retaliate for U.S. and Israeli strikes.
The Pentagon did not immediately release the identities of the airmen killed in the crash, pending next-of-kin notifications.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
