Four US service members are dead after a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, a refueling aircraft, crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, the US military announced.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq had earlier announced downing the aircraft, adding that it targeted a second KC-135, forcing it to make an emergency landing.
However, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed in its statement that the downing was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
Rescue efforts continue for two other personnel aboard the plane, according to the CENTCOM.
The USS Gerald Ford experienced a fire, and a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed, both in one day.
— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) March 12, 2026
We're told that these are just accidents…
Nevertheless, Operation Epstein's Fury isn't going well at all. The US is losing the Ramadan War. pic.twitter.com/wieffpjFQ4
A previous statement said that two aircraft were involved in an incident over western Iraq while operating during the so-called “Operation Epic Fury,” the name the Pentagon has given for the war on Iran.
Earlier on Thursday, American journalist and a senior White House reporter for CBS News Jennofer Jacobs posted on her X account that a KC-135 went down in Western Iraq with a crew of six.
She added that another KC-135 was hit but landed in ‘Israel’. However, she deleted the post later.
Source: Agencies (translated and edited by Al-Manar)