Rescue underway as US refuelling plane goes down in Iraq ‘following mid-air collision’ – as Iran drone attacks kill French soldier and hit UK special forces with ‘hidden hand of Putin’ blamed

The rescue operation continues after a US refueling plane crashed in Iraq following a suspected mid-air collision.

Iraq became the main battleground in the Middle East on Wednesday after a drone strike killed a French soldier in the country and another hit British special forces.

As the conflict entered its 13th day, an American aircraft involved in a military operation against Iran ‘crashed’ in western Iraq without any signs of enemy or friendly fire.

US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced that two planes were involved in the incident and one was described as ‘missing’.

One of the planes was a KC-135 tanker, a refueling vehicle that requires a crew of at least three to operate, according to a U.S. official.

Sources told the Daily Mail that the second plane landed in Israel.

Events in Iraq threatened to draw Britain and France into the conflict after days of implementing a defensive strategy.

A French soldier was killed in an attack on a joint base in Iraqi Kurdistan, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday.

Two unmanned aerial vehicles were used and five more soldiers were injured in the attack on the headquarters that France shares with Kurdistan Peshmerga forces.

Meanwhile, Iranian drone strikes targeted a British Special Forces base in Iraq earlier in the day.

Vladimir Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ has been accused of directing attacks on military headquarters and helping coordinate Iran’s military operations.

Smoke rises from where the drone crashed on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq, on Thursday

Defense Minister John Healey, seen in Cyprus this month, blamed Vladimir Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ for directing attacks on military headquarters

John Healey has condemned the Kremlin’s secret mission to support the regime, which has fired on UK troops at least three times.

The attack on the camp in Erbil in Northern Iraq was repelled by soldiers using the UK’s Martlet missile system.

Wednesday night’s clash followed attacks on RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and challenged the wisdom of Keir Starmer’s strategy.

On the Prime Minister’s orders, British troops are only allowed to intercept enemy rockets. They cannot activate rocket systems.

Meanwhile, as Britain was drawn further into the conflict, RAF pilots flew operational sorties over the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar.

Mr Healey said: ‘It would surprise no one to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of Iran’s tactics and potentially some of its capabilities.

‘We saw this axis of aggression when Russia launched 60,000 UAVs into Ukraine. We saw the same tactic in Iran. These countries like to threaten their neighbors.

‘No one wants a situation where the Strait of Hormuz is closed and international oil prices are above $100 per barrel. There is no one but Putin. Everybody else is worried about it.’

The Kremlin was struggling to find money to support its illegal occupation of Ukraine before oil prices soared.

The increase from $60 to over $100 per barrel was an unexpected result for Putin, as was the exemption of the United States from sanctions imposed on countries purchasing Russian natural resources.

Overstretched British forces were withdrawn from patrolling the High North and North Sea to contribute to Middle East operations.

HMS Dragon, which sailed from Portsmouth on Monday, was destined for NATO operations there before being redeployed.

A French soldier was killed in a drone attack on a base in the Makhmur region of Iraqi Kurdistan, pictured, which France shares with Kurdistan Peshmerga forces.

Parents pulled their children away from Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, after an armed man entered the building in a truck on Thursday

While there were no British casualties in Iran’s attack on the Erbil base, some US service personnel were injured. Targets in Baghdad were also hit.

Britain’s Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Nick Perry, said Iranian drones were ‘problematic’ due to their flight patterns and had ‘proven to be effective’.

Using tactics borrowed from the Russians in Ukraine, the Iranians enable Martyr suicide drones to approach targets from a lower orbit.

The shallowness of their flight makes detection and intervention even more difficult. However, the Martlet missile system proved worthy of this task.

With the Strait of Hormuz under blockade due to threats to cargo ships and oil tankers, Mr Healey was asked why the Navy had removed the minesweeper HMS Middleton.

He said: ‘Every ship needs maintenance, just like a car. That’s why he was brought back.’

Other developments from yesterday:

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believed America and its allies would form an ‘international coalition’ to escort oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
• There was no sign of the collapse of the Iranian regime after yesterday’s attacks on Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
• An armed attacker who drove a truck carrying explosives into a synagogue in the USA was killed.
• The vehicle caught fire after ‘something caught fire’ when the driver crashed into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. A person with a rifle was found dead in the vehicle. No one else was killed in the incident.
• Donald Trump stated that the war against Iran is progressing ‘too quickly’ and added: ‘They are truly a nation of terror and hate, and they are paying a huge price right now.
• Iran has insisted it will not mine the Strait of Hormuz after an expert warned that unmanned maritime attack planes could ‘wreak havoc’ along the vital waterway.
• Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei made the first statement to his war-torn country, despite rumors that he was unable to run a hospital due to serious injuries.
• Israeli armed forces launched “several waves” of attacks targeting “Hezbollah’s infrastructure” in Beirut and southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, another European country was dragged into war after a French soldier died in a drone attack targeting a base in Iraq.

In his post on X, President Macron confirmed the first French military death in the Middle East war, which began late last month when Israel and the United States struck Iran.

Two unmanned aerial vehicles were used in the attack on the headquarters that France shares with Iraqi Kurdistan Peshmerga forces.

According to Erbil Governor Omed Koshnaw, there were no Peshmerga personnel in the area at the time of the attack.

The base is located in the Makhmour region of Iraqi Kurdistan, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital Erbil.

A fire broke out yesterday following the explosion at the military base in Erbil, Iraq.

“These are all actions of terrorist militias in Iraq, and we reiterate that the Iraqi government is not taking this seriously,” Mr. Koshnaw said.

‘If these outlaws are part of the Iraqi government, then they are responsible. If not, then security agencies have a duty to rein in these groups.’

According to a member of the General Staff, the soldiers were ‘engaging in counter-terrorism training activities with their Iraqi partners’.

The soldiers were immediately taken to the nearest health institution.