Four of the six people on board the US refueling aircraft perished in the crash in Iraq.

The US Central Command announced in an X post on Friday afternoon that four of the six crew members on the US Air Force KC-135 aircraft that crashed in western Iraq had perished. The other two are still being rescued, according to CENTCOM.  CENTCOM stated that the causes are still “under investigation” but excluded friendly or enemy fire. CENTCOM decided that the fallen soldiers’ identities were kept secret for a full day after their families were informed.

A second (unidentified) aircraft involved in the incident made a safe landing, but the US military reported on Thursday that a KC-135, which is used to refuel other aircraft in midair, had crashed.

According to Iranian state television, the plane was shot down with a missile by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization of armed factions supported by Iran, in neighboring Iraq.

Washington vehemently refuted the allegation, stating that there had been no reports of hostile fire.

On March 2, a Kuwaiti F-18 shot down three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets in a “accident,” making the downed KC-135 the fourth military aircraft the United States has lost in the Iran War.Built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, the KC-135 is an essential component of the US military’s fleet for air refueling and is used extensively in long-range operations. According to the US Air Force, KC-135s have been in service for more than 60 years and typically feature a three-person crew: the pilot, the copilot, and a third person who controls the boom used to refuel other aircraft.