A US refueling plane crashed in western Iraq Thursday night in an incident that US Central Command said involved another aircraft and was not the result of enemy fire or friendly fire.
In a statement, the command said it was conducting rescue operations after a KC-135 refueling aircraft went down. 'The second aircraft landed safely,' the statement said. The second plane, also a KC-135, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport after declaring an emergency.
'The incident occurred in friendly skies during Operation Epic Fury,' US Central Command said. A US official said six crew members were aboard the aircraft that crashed.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of pro-Iranian militias, claimed responsibility for downing the aircraft despite the US statement that the crash was not caused by enemy fire. The group said the refueling plane was shot down 'to defend the sovereignty of our country and our airspace.'
The KC-135, manufactured by Boeing, entered service in the mid-1950s and is considered the backbone of the US military’s aerial refueling fleet.
Since the start of the war, seven US soldiers have been killed and about 150 others wounded. The refueling plane crashed hours after reports of a fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, for reasons unrelated to combat.