Six service members are dead after a U.S. military refueling plane crashed in Iraq on Thursday while supporting operations in western Iran, bringing the total American combat deaths in the conflict to 11, according to U.S. Central Command.
The military confirmed their deaths after originally reporting four had died. Officials said a KC-135 refueling jet was supporting operations in western Iran when it went down at around 2 p.m. “The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” a post on social media read. Rescue efforts are underway for the other two crew members.
Although the incident occurred in “friendly airspace” during Operation Epic Fury, it was not due to “friendly fire,” CENTCOM said. The identities of the service members will be withheld for the next 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., wrote on X that the other plane landed safely in Israel.
The deaths of the crew members have brought the number of American troops killed in the Iran war to 11. The crash came after Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury last week. The cause of that incident is under investigation.
The KC-135 Stratotanker is a U.S. Air Force aircraft used to refuel other planes in midair, allowing them to travel longer distances and maintain operations longer without landing. The plane is also used to transport wounded personnel during medical evacuations or conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.
The crash marks the deadliest single incident for U.S. forces since operations against Iran began, surpassing the six Army Reserve soldiers killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait in the war’s opening days. The repeated losses from both enemy action and friendly fire incidents highlight the operational dangers facing American forces conducting sustained air operations across the region.
