Washington: A US The military refueling plane crashed in the west iraq on Thursday, in an incident US Central Command said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
The United States has deployed a large number of aircraft to the Middle East to take part in operations against Iran, and the incident highlights the dangers of operations, even over friendly skies.
In a statement, US Central Command said it was conducting rescue efforts after the US KC-135 refueling plane crashed. The second plane landed safely.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury,” the statement said, using the military name for the US operation against Iran.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the other aircraft involved in the incident was also a KC-135 and that the one that went down had up to six service members on board.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of armed factions backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for the downing of the US military refueling plane.
The group said in a statement that it had shot down the KC-135 aircraft “in defense of our country’s sovereignty and airspace”.
The KC-135, built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, has served as the backbone of the U.S. military’s aerial refueling fleet and is critical to allowing aircraft to complete missions without having to land.
Since the US and Israel began launching strikes against Iran on February 28, seven US troops have been killed. The United States has carried out strikes against more than 6,000 targets in Iran.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that about 150 US troops have been injured in the US-Israeli war against Iran. News of the collision comes on the same day that two US sailors were injured after the USS Gerald Ford suffered a non-combat fire on board.
So far, the war has killed more than 2,000 people, including almost 700 in Lebanon.
