US Army Confirms Death of Four Crew Members in Plane Crash in Western Iraq

SadaNews - The US Army confirmed on Friday the death of four of the six crew members aboard the KC-135 tanker aircraft that was downed in Iraq.

The US Army announced late Thursday that one of its aerial refueling planes, the "KC-135 Stratotanker," had crashed in western Iraq, while a second aircraft involved in the incident landed safely.

Earlier on Thursday, the US Central Command stated that it was conducting a rescue operation after losing a military aircraft in "friendly airspace" in Iraq during the ongoing conflict with Iran. The Army indicated that "two aircraft were involved in the incident. One crashed in western Iraq, while the other landed safely." They added that the incident was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

For its part, the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" claimed early Friday that it had managed to target a second American aircraft of the "KC-135" type, which was hit but managed to escape and made an emergency landing "at one of the enemy's airports."