All six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft supporting operations against Iran are dead, the U.S. military said Friday, after their plane crashed in western Iraq.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” and that the other plane landed safely, AP reports. A second U.S. official, who similarly spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, said the other plane involved also was a KC-135 tanker.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The tanker is the fourth publicly acknowledged aircraft to crash as part of the U.S. military’s operations against Iran. Last week, three American fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire.
Watch previous coverage: Three U.S. fighter jets shot down in friendly fire incident
The crash brings the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members, seven of whom were killed in combat. About 140 U.S. service members have been injured, including eight severely, the Pentagon said earlier this week.
