An Iranian-backed resistance group is claiming responsibility for taking down a US refueling aircraft in Iraq on Thursday, after authorities said the plane crashed in “friendly airspace.”
Two aircraft were involved in the crash, with a US KC-135 Stratotanker going down over western Iraq, the US Central Command said, noting rescue efforts remain ongoing.
As many as six crew members were aboard the fuel tanker that crashed, a US official told Reuters. It is not immediately clear whether they were killed or injured.
A KC-135 Stratotanker went down in western Iraq on Thursday after an incident in “friendly airspace.” AP“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing,” CENTCOM wrote in a statement.
“This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
The second US aircraft, which landed safely, was also a KC-135.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility for taking down the aircraft Thursday evening.
The group said in a statement that it had shot down the military refueling tanker “in defense of our country’s sovereignty and airspace.”
The KC-135 Stratotanker has been the US Air Force’s core refueling aircraft for more than 60 years — providing additional aerial support to the Navy, Marine Corps, and allied nations’ aircraft, according to the US Air Force.
Seven US service members have been killed by airstrikes since the start of the Iran war — including six following a March 1 Iranian attack on an American base in Kuwait.
Around 150 additional service members have been wounded. A vast majority of the injuries have been minor, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell previously said in a statement.
More information on the incident will be available as recovery efforts unfold, CENTCOM said.
With Post wires
