Four of the six crew members aboard a United States military aircraft have been confirmed dead after the plane crashed in western Iraq.
The U.S. military confirmed the incident on Friday, March 13, 2026, as rescue efforts continued for the remaining two.
The military refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq on Thursday, in an incident the military said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
The deaths add to the seven U.S. service members who have already been killed as part of U.S. operations against Iran which began on February 28.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” a statement from U.S. Central Command said.
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A U.S. official told Reuters that the second aircraft involved in the crash, which landed safely, was also a military refuelling aircraft known as the KC-135.
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 risk of not just operations, but of refuelling aircraft in the air.
The KC-135, built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, has served as the backbone of the U.S. military’s air refuelling fleet and is critical to allowing aircraft to carry out missions without having to land.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility for downing the U.S. military refuelling aircraft.
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