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A US military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident US Central Command \u200bsaid involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or \u200cfriendly fire.<\/strong><\/p>\n The United States has deployed a large number of aircraft into the Middle East to take part in operations against Iran and the incident highlights the risk of operations, even \u200bover friendly skies.<\/p>\n In a statement, US Central Command said it was carrying out \u200brescue efforts after the US KC-135 refueling aircraft went down. The \u2060second aircraft landed safely.<\/p>\n \u201cThe incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury,\u201d \u200bthe statement said, using the military name of the US operation against Iran.<\/p>\n A US \u200bofficial, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the other aircraft involved in the incident was also a KC-135 and the one that crashed had as many as six service members on \u200bboard.<\/p>\n The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed \u200bresponsibility for downing the US military refueling aircraft. The KC-135, built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, has served as the backbone of the US military\u2019s air refueling fleet and is critical to allow aircraft to carry out missions \u200bwithout having to land.<\/p>\n Since \u200bthe US and \u2060Israel started carrying out strikes against Iran on February 28, seven US troops have been killed. The United States has carried \u200bout strikes against more than 6,000 targets in Iran.<\/p>\n Reuters reported on \u200bTuesday that \u2060as many as 150 US troops have been wounded in the US-Israeli war on Iran. News of the crash comes the same day two US sailors were injured after \u2060the \u200bUSS Gerald Ford suffered a non-combat-related fire on \u200bboard.<\/p>\n National security correspondent focusing on the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Reports on US military activity and operations throughout the world and the impact that they have. Has reported from over two dozen countries to include Iraq, Afghanistan, and much of the Middle East, Asia and Europe. From Karachi, Pakistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The group said in a statement it had shot \u200cdown \u2060the KC-135 aircraft \u201cin defense of our country\u2019s sovereignty and airspace\u201d.<\/p>\n