March 13, 2026 | 09:33 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Four crew members died when a U.S. Air Force refueling plane crashed in Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. Central Command announced on Friday, March 13, 2026.
The U.S. KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft was carrying six crew members when it went missing in allied airspace during an incident in the course of Operation Epic Fury.
"The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," a USCC official claimed, as reported by The New York Post.
Two aircraft were purportedly involved in the accident. The second aircraft, also a KC-135, landed safely.
The U.S. military withheld the identities of the crew members until 24 hours after their families had been notified.
The conditions of the other two crew members have not been revealed immediately.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility for shooting the refueling tanker down on Thursday night.
The group stated in a release that they had shot down the military refueling aircraft "to defend the sovereignty and airspace of our country."
The four fatalities bring the U.S. military death toll to 11 since the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.
Six U.S. Army Reserve members were killed as Iran launched a drone attack on a U.S. base in Kuwait on February 28. Another person died on Saturday after sustaining injuries during an early March attack in Saudi Arabia.
Read: Thailand Seeks 'Clarification' from Iran After Strait of Hormuz Vessel Attack
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