All six crew members aboard a US military aircraft that crashed in western Iraq have been confirmed dead, the US military has said. The KC-135 refuelling plane went down on Thursday in an incident involving another aircraft, but not as a result of hostile or friendly fire.
The crash occurred in Iraq's western desert, a vast expanse of rocky plains that hosts bases of Iran-aligned Shia militias and has been the site of repeated Israeli and US airstrikes. This is the fourth US aircraft lost since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February.
In a separate incident, a French soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday. It is the first French military death in the ongoing conflict. The pro-Iranian Ashab al-Kahf group warned on Telegram that French interests in Iraq and the region would be targeted after the arrival of a French aircraft carrier.
The US has moved a large fleet of aircraft into the Middle East for operations against Iran and deployed specialist search and rescue units to extract the downed plane's crew. Thirteen US troops have been killed in the conflict, with up to 150 wounded. The death toll in Iran exceeds 1,300, according to its UN ambassador.
US President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have both stated that the war will likely claim more American lives before it ends. Meanwhile, Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has vowed to avenge Iranian casualties, according to state television.
