Death toll rises to six in US military plane crash in Iraq

The United States has confirmed the death of two more soldiers in a plane crash in Iraq, bringing the death toll to six. The US military confirmed on Friday (March 13) that all six crew members on board a refueling jet crashed in western Iraq.

The US Central Command (Centcom) stressed in a social media post that the incident was “not the result of enemy fire or friendly fire” and that the cause of the crash was still under investigation.

The information was revealed in a report by Middle East Eye on Friday.

It also said that the identities of the crew members would not be released until 24 hours after the families of the victims were notified.

Earlier, the US Central Command, which is responsible for the war in Iran, said that four of the six crew members of a KC-135 Stratotanker that crashed in western Iraq were killed. Centcom said that the search for the remaining two crew members was still ongoing.

Al Jazeera reported that it announced the deaths of the four in a statement on Friday. It did not give a clear explanation for how the plane crashed, but its previous statement suggested that the KC-135 may have been brought down after a collision between two of its planes or after it lost control after getting too close.

The second plane “landed safely,” it said.

Centcom said the incident was not caused by enemy fire or an accidental strike by allies. However, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed armed group, said it was the one that shot down the US KC-135 Stratotanker.

These expensive Stratotankers are the backbone of the war effort, refueling warplanes. In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Islamic Resistance said its fighters shot down the plane when it was targeted by air defense systems.

Early in the war, three US F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jets were shot down in the Middle East. In response to US-Israeli attacks, Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones across the Middle East, and Washington later claimed that the planes were shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses. However, Iran claimed that the US warplanes were destroyed as part of its retaliatory strikes.