The Pentagon on Saturday (Mar 14) identified the six US service members who were killed in a refuelling aircraft crash in western Iraq earlier this week. The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker went down on Thursday (Mar 12) near the town of Turaibil along the Iraq-Jordan border.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the crash was not caused by hostile fire or friendly fire. Iran, however, claims that forces aligned with it shot down the aircraft, killing everyone on board. Since the start of the Iran war, at least 13 US troops have died. Another aircraft that was part of the same operation landed safely.
The six members who were killed in the crash were: John Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama; Ariana Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky; Seth Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana; Curtis Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tyler Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.
The first three were members of the US Air Force, while the remaining three were serving with the US Air National Guard. The US CENTCOM earlier said that the “loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire”. However, Pentagon officials said the crash is still under investigation.
The KC-135 crash marks at least the fourth US military aircraft lost during the war. Earlier, three F-15 fighter jets were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait.
On February 28, the US and Israeli militaries launched strikes on Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei along with several senior Iranian officials. The operation was named ‘Epic Fury’ by the US and ‘Lion’s Roar’ by Israel. The attacks took place amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran and ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. In response, Iran launched retaliatory strikes targeting Israel and US military bases across the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Azerbaijan.
