4 US military troops killed after aircraft crashed in Iraq and leaving two others unaccounted for, in one of the deadliest single incidents since the United States launched its ongoing military campaign against Iran. The crash occurred on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at approximately 2:00 pm Eastern Time, and was confirmed by US Central Command (CENTCOM) early Friday morning.
4 US Military Troops Killed After Aircraft Crashes in Iraq: What We Know
The aircraft involved was a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker a mid-air refuelling jet used to extend the range of fighter aircraft operating over Iranian and regional airspace during Operation Epic Fury, the US military’s name for its ongoing war against Iran. The plane went down in the Turaibil area of western Iraq, near the Iraqi-Jordanian border a sparsely populated desert region. A second KC-135 involved in the same incident sustained damage but managed to land safely, with flight tracking service FlightRadar24 showing it later touched down in Tel Aviv.
Of the six crew members on board the downed aircraft, four have been confirmed dead. Rescue and recovery operations known as Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP) missions were still actively underway at the time of this report, with the fates of the remaining two crew members unknown.
Was It Shot Down? A Disputed Question
CENTCOM was firm in its initial statement: the crash was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.” The military said circumstances were still under investigation and that the identities of the fallen service members would be withheld for 24 hours to allow families to be notified first.
However, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq an umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias operating in the country flatly contradicted the US account. The group claimed on its Telegram channel that it had shot down the KC-135 using what it described as “the appropriate weapon,” and further claimed it had forced the second tanker into an emergency landing. The US military has not responded to that specific claim.
The Bigger Picture: Mounting US Losses in the Iran War
This crash brings the total number of confirmed US military deaths since the start of the Iran war to at least 11. It also marks the fourth publicly acknowledged US aircraft loss since the conflict began under Operation Epic Fury. The three previous losses were F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, shot down in a friendly fire incident involving Kuwaiti air defences though all six crew members from those jets ejected safely.
The war, which has been deeply controversial at home, remains ongoing. A Quinnipiac University poll released on March 9 found that 53 percent of American voters opposed the military offensive against Iran, with 74 percent rejecting the idea of ground operations. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to hold a press conference at the Pentagon on Friday, where further questions about the crash and the direction of the conflict were expected to dominate.
French President Emmanuel Macron also confirmed Friday that a French soldier had been killed in a separate attack in the Irbil region of Iraq, calling the strike on forces deployed there to fight ISIS “unacceptable.”
For live updates on this developing story, follow Al Jazeera.
