US KC-135 Crashes in Western Iraq; Iraqi Resistance Claims Shootdown, CENTCOM Denies Hostile Fire

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that a U.S. KC-135 aerial refuelling tanker was lost over western Iraq after an incident involving two aircraft, and said rescue efforts were ongoing.

“WASHINGTON — A US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker air refueler crashed in Iraq due to an “incident” that “occurred in friendly airspace,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement late Thursday”

Breaking Defense

CENTCOM’s statement said one of the two aircraft “went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely,” and repeatedly stressed that the incident “was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

Breaking Defense

Several outlets reported the second aircraft was also a KC-135 but said no further operational details were immediately available.

CENTCOM said the event happened in “friendly” or “uncontested” airspace while the tankers were supporting Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. campaign against Iran that began Feb. 28.

Multiple outlets framed the loss as occurring amid active U.S. operations against Iran and repeated CENTCOM’s characterization that the crash did not result from hostile or friendly fire, situating the incident squarely within the broader campaign rather than enemy surface-to-air engagement.

Dawn

Coverage noted that the loss of the KC-135 adds to a string of U.S. aircraft losses since the start of the campaign: outlets reported the tanker as at least the fourth U.S. aircraft lost during the war after three F-15s were previously shot down over Kuwait in a friendly-fire incident.

“This photo provided by the U”

Fox21Online

Reporting also reiterated basic KC-135 facts: the airframe has been in service for decades, typically operates with a small crew, and can carry additional personnel depending on the mission.

None of the provided reports cite or reproduce claims from Iraqi armed groups asserting they shot down the tanker; instead the available coverage is dominated by CENTCOM’s denial that hostile fire caused the loss and by officials saying limited information has been released.

Several outlets explicitly quoted CENTCOM’s repeated line that the incident “was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” and others noted that investigators and military spokespeople were still gathering details.

Hindustan Times

Officials and analysts noted rescue and investigative work was ongoing and that details about casualties and exact circumstances remained unclear in the immediate aftermath.

“US military plane goes down in Iraq: What caused the KC-135 crash”

Hindustan Times

Outlets reported CENTCOM and other U.S. authorities were continuing to gather information, and some coverage placed the loss in the operational context of an aging tanker fleet that the Air Force is phasing toward replacement even as it remains central to operations.

KTVZ