Tragedy has struck as 6 Air Force personnel died after a refueling plane crashed in Iraq on Thursday March 12.
As reported by the New York Post, the US Central Command announced the tragic incident this morning, Friday March 13.
There is some uncertainty involved in the crash. An Iran-backed armed umbrella group known as the "Islamic Resistance" said that they carried out the attack. They said in a statement that they shot down the tanker plane "in defense of our country's sovereignty and airspace."
However, the Central Command has denied this. "The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire, or friendly fire", they released in a statement.
Two planes were apparently involved in the crash, both KC-135 Stratotankers. These are both types of refueling planes which are used to resupply jets. It appears that the plane crashed near the border between Iraq and Jordan. The names of the service members who died have not been released. The US military said that they are withholding the crew members' identities until 24 hours after their families have been notified.
There have been four US military planes that have crashed in the region since operations began on February 28. Another such crash was a F-15 Strike Eagle jet, which crashed in Kuwait.
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13 American Service Members Have Died Since Operations Began
When we reported on the tragic deaths of American service members on Monday, March 9, there had been seven confirmed casualties. However, as of Friday March 13, after this tragic crash, this number has been brought up to 13.
Six US Army Reserve members were tragically killed when an Iranian drone strike on a US base in Kuwait claimed their lives on Saturday February 28. They were identified as: Nicole Amor, 39; Cody Khork, 35; Declan Coady, 20; Robert Marzan, 54; Jeffrey O'Brien, 45; and Noah Tietjens, 42.
As well as this, a member of the Army's 1st Space Brigade died after an Iranian retaliatory stike occurred at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. He was named as Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington.
May they all rest in peace.
