The United States Central Command, US CENTCOM, has confirmed the deaths of four crew members after a US refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq yesterday.
In a statement, the US CENTCOM said that a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker went down yesterday, with six crew members on board the aircraft at the time of the incident. CENTCOM further clarified that the loss of the aircraft was not caused by hostile fire or friendly fire.
However, Iran’s state media, citing the spokesman for the Central Headquarters of Iran’s Military, claimed that the US military refuelling plane was shot down by a missile fired by resistance groups in Western Iraq.
The US initially said it had located four of the deceased crew. It saidneither hostile nor friendly fire were involved in the loss of the KC-135 aircrafton Thursday.
Thetanker had been involved in ongoing US operations against Iran and was one of two aircraft involved in the incident. The second landed safely.
The Boeing-manufactured aircraft are capable of refuelling planes midair and play a major role in US military operations. They were used extensively in the first Gulf War to extend the range of fighter jets and bombers.