KC-135 Downed in Western Desert During Operation Epic Fury; Rescue Efforts Continue for Two Missing Airmen.
Another deadly setback in the Iran war: four U.S. crew confirmed dead after a refueling plane crashes in Iraq’s western desert.
Four of the six crew members aboard a U.S. military refueling aircraft were killed after their plane crashed in western Iraq, the U.S. military confirmed Friday, as search-and-rescue operations continued for the two remaining personnel.
The KC-135 tanker went down Thursday in Iraq’s vast western desert during what U.S. Central Command described as an incident in “friendly airspace” as part of Operation Epic Fury, the American campaign against Iran. Officials said the crash was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
A second aircraft involved in the incident landed safely.
Rescue teams, including specialist recovery units deployed to the region, remain on the ground searching for the two missing crew members.
The crash marks the fourth U.S. aircraft lost since Washington and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. In earlier incidents, three U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, though all pilots in those cases ejected safely.
The western Iraqi desert, though sparsely populated, has long hosted bases linked to Iran-aligned Shia militias and has been the site of repeated Israeli and U.S. airstrikes. Since the conflict began nearly two weeks ago, pro-Iranian factions have stepped up attacks on foreign military installations across the region.
In Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that a French soldier was killed in a separate drone attack — the first French military fatality of the war.
The pro-Iranian group Ashab al-Kahf later warned that French interests in Iraq and the wider region would be targeted following the deployment of a French aircraft carrier.
The United States has moved additional aircraft and naval assets into the Middle East as the conflict deepens. According to U.S. officials, 11 American service members have been killed since the start of hostilities, and as many as 150 have been wounded.
Six of those killed died when an Iranian drone struck a logistics operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait. They were Army Reserve personnel responsible for supply operations.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have acknowledged that further American casualties are possible as the war continues.
With losses mounting and regional tensions escalating, the downing of the KC-135 underscores the growing risks facing U.S. forces as operations expand across multiple fronts in the Middle East.
