All six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed while supporting operations against Iran are dead, the US said on Friday. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the crash in western Iraq on Thursday followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace” and that the other plane landed safely.
The crash brings the US death toll in Operation Epic Fury to 13 service members, with seven others killed in combat. About 140 U.S. service members have been injured, including eight severely, the Pentagon said earlier this week.
Six Army reservists were killed in Kuwait when an Iranian drone struck an operations center at a civilian port. The Pentagon identified them as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento; and Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa.
Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky died one week ago after being wounded during a March 1 attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, a Pentagon statement said.
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