U.S. Carrying Out Rescue Effort After Military Aircraft Crash In Iraq
WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) – A U.S. military refueling plane crashed in western Iraq on Thursday in an incident that U.S. Central Command said involved another aircraft but was not the result of enemy or friendly fire.
The United States has deployed large numbers of aircraft to the Middle East to participate in operations against Iran, and this incident highlights the risks of operations even in friendly weather.
In the statement made by the US Central Command, it was stated that rescue efforts continued after the US KC-135 refueling plane crashed. The second plane landed safely.
In the statement made using the military name of the US operation against Iran, it was said: “The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the other plane involved in the incident was a KC-135 and that there were about six service personnel on board the crashed plane.
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The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, claimed responsibility for shooting down the US military refueling plane.
The group said in its statement that it shot down the KC-135 aircraft “in order to defend our country’s sovereignty and airspace.”
Built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, the KC-135 formed the backbone of the U.S. military’s aerial refueling fleet and is critical to allowing aircraft to accomplish missions without needing to land.
Seven US soldiers have been killed since the US and Israel began attacks against Iran on February 28. The USA attacked more than 6 thousand targets in Iran.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that some 150 US soldiers were injured in the US-Israeli war against Iran. News of the accident came the same day that two US sailors were injured after the USS Gerald Ford suffered a non-combat fire on board.
The war has killed more than 2,000 people so far, including 700 in Lebanon.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese, Lincoln Feast and Christopher Cushing)
