US military refuelling plane crashes in Iraq, rescue is underway

An American military refuelling plane taking part in the operation against Iran crashed in Iraq and rescue efforts were underway US Central Command said Thursday It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties A US official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation said the KC135 aircraft that crashed had at least five crew members aboardThe crash was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire the military said in a statement which described the plane as a loss US Central Command which oversees the Middle East said that two aircraft were involved and that one landed safely and the other went down in western Iraq A second US official who similarly spoke on condition of anonymity said the other plane involved also was a KC135 tankerMore information will be made available as the situation develops Central Command said We ask for continued patience to gather additional details and provide clarity for the families of service members The tanker is the fourth publicly acknowledged aircraft to crash as part of the US militarys operations against Iran Last week three American fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fireAll six crew members safely ejected from the F15E Strike Eagles and were in stable condition after being recovered the US said Seven American troops have been killed in combat during the Iran war so far while about 140 US service members have been injured including eight severely the Pentagon said earlier this week Both President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have warned that the Iran war would likely claim more American lives before it endsSix of the fallen service members were killed when an Iranian drone struck an operations centre at a civilian port in Kuwait They were in the Army Reserve and worked in logistics keeping troops supplied with food and equipment They died one day after the US and Israel launched the military campaign against Iran on February 28 The Islamic Republic has retaliated with missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host US armed forcesThe seventh American service member died after being wounded during a March 1 attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base Saudi Arabia Trump joined grieving families for a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base when the remains of the first six soldiers were returned to the United States Vice President JD Vance Hegseth and others saluted the seventh flagdraped transfer case as it arrived this week at DoverThe KC135 tanker involved in the latest crash is based on the same design as the Boeing 707 airliner and entered military service more than 60 years ago Like other longserving aircraft the planes have undergone various retrofits and upgrades over the years The KC135 tankers typically have a crew of three Its not immediately clear what role the extra crew members were serving aboard the flightAccording to a report from the Congressional Research Service the Air Force last year had a total of 376 KC135s including 151 on active duty 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force ReserveThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever