Six US Service Members Dead After Military Refueling Plane Crashes in Iraq During Iran Operations

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.