All six crew members aboard a United States military refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq are confirmed to have been killed, the US military said on Friday.
A US military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident the military said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
The deaths add to the seven US service members who have already been killed as part of US operations against Iran which began on February 28.
“The circumstances of the ?incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” a statement from US Central Command said.
A US official told Reuters that the second aircraft involved in the crash, which landed safely, was also a military refueling aircraft known as the KC-135.
The US has deployed a large number of aircraft into the Middle East to take part in operations against Iran and the incident highlights the risk of not just operations, but of refueling aircraft in the air.
The KC-135, built ?by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, has served as the backbone of the US military’s air refueling fleet and is critical to allowing aircraft to carry out missions without having to land.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that as many as 150 US troops have been wounded in the US-Israeli war on Iran. News of the crash comes the same day ?two US sailors were injured after the USS Gerald Ford suffered a non-combat-related fire on board.
The first seven US troops were killed when a drone slammed into a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Contrary to the US Central Command’s statement that a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq due to “an apparent accident,” Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that the aircraft was deliberately targeted and shot down over western Iraq, Al Mayadeen English posted on X.
According to the spokesperson, Iran’s air defence systems were responsible for the strike, resulting in the deaths of all crew members aboard the aircraft.
The United States has deployed a large number of aircraft into the Middle East to take part in operations against Iran and the incident highlights the risk of not just operations, but of refuelling aircraft in the air. Iran’s state media said at least one woman was killed when blasts hit an area near a demonstration, where large crowds had gathered waving flags and brandishing banners reading “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”. “These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation,” said Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who attended the rally to mark Quds Day.
“One who is strong wouldn’t bomb demonstrations at all. It’s clear that it (the enemy) has failed,” said Larijani in a speech broadcast on state TV.
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also attended the rally, while images on Iranian media showed the head of the judiciary being interviewed just as a blast occurred.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei vowed Iran’s military would teach the US and Israel “an unforgettable lesson”. Shortly afterwards, state television said Iran had launched a fresh salvo of missiles at Israel.
Separately, Türkiye’s defence ministry on Friday said a ballistic missile from Iran had been shot down in Turkish airspace by NATO forces in the third such incident of the Middle East war.
“A ballistic munition launched from Iran and entering Turkish airspace was neutralised by NATO air and missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean,” a ministry statement said.
Hours earlier, sirens wailed at Türkiye’s southern Incirlik airbase, a key NATO facility where US troops are stationed, state news agency Anadolu reported. Local media also reported sirens in Batman, 600 kilometres (370 miles) further east. NATO air defences shot down a first ballistic missile fired from Iran on March 4, with a second intercepted on Monday.
Separately, sirens sounded in Batman around 4:00am, with reporters saying the alarm appeared to be coming from a military drone base next to the city’s airport.
Monday’s incident prompted Washington to close its consulate in Adana and urge all US citizens to leave southeastern Türkiye.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied the missile had been fired from Iran in a phone call to Türkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.