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The United States confirmed this Friday the death of the six military personnel who were on board the KC-135 tanker aircraft that crashed on Thursday in western Iraq, amid the war against Iran.
Although authorities initially reported the death of four soldiers, the number later increased to include all the crew members of the vessel.
"It is now confirmed that all six crew members aboard the U.S. KC-135, who were refueling the aircraft that crashed in western Iraq, are dead. The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace on March 12 during Operation Epic Fury," stated the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), based in Florida.
In a statement, the entity added that the circumstances of the accident are still under investigation, although it emphasized that the loss of the aircraft was not caused by enemy fire or friendly fire.
The deceased military personnel have not yet been publicly identified. "The identities of the service members will be kept confidential until 24 hours after their families have been notified," stated CENTCOM.
With these deaths, the number of U.S. soldiers who have died since the beginning of the war against Iran on February 28 has risen to 14. According to official data, seven were killed in Iranian attacks, one died from a medical emergency in Kuwait, and the remaining six in this aerial accident in Iraq.
A pro-Iranian militia known as Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed that its fighters shot down the plane using air defense systems, which would have caused the accident, cited the news agency EFE.
The group also later claimed to have attacked a second U.S. aircraft in western Iraq, which allegedly had to make an emergency landing at "one of the enemy's airports," while its crew was able to reach safety.
However, CENTCOM does not support this version and has not reported any additional attacks on another aircraft.
Iran has also claimed that the tanker plane was hit by a missile fired by armed Iraqi groups, a statement that has not been confirmed by U.S. authorities either.
According to the official version from Washington, this is the second incident involving U.S. forces since the onset of the conflict.
On Thursday, the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, the largest in the U.S. fleet, suffered an onboard fire that left two Marines injured, a situation that was not attributed to enemy actions, according to CENTCOM.
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