All six U.S. service members who were aboard a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday were killed, the military confirmed on Friday.
The crash, which is currently under investigation, was not a result of friendly or enemy fire, U.S. Central Command said. Another aircraft was involved in the incident, though it landed safely.
CENTCOM has not yet released the identities of the deceased, given the usual protocol of notifying the families of the fallen before sharing them with the public.
The KC-135 aircraft are routinely used for air-to-air refueling missions, providing the “core aerial refueling capability” for the Air Force, according to the Pentagon, and can carry up to 83,000 pounds of cargo.
The aircraft crash brings the total number of American fatalities since the war against Iran began to 13. Six service members were killed in Kuwait at the Port of Shuaiba in an Iranian one-way attack drone strike during the first days of the war. Another American service member was killed at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
They were Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20. Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, and Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had warned that the number of American casualties and fatalities could rise.
He and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to specify on Friday how many troops have been wounded since the war began. Hegseth said “almost 90%” of injured troops sustained minor injuries and have returned to duty.
Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that there had been roughly 140 injuries, 108 of those service members had returned to duty, while eight others had been “severely injured.”
U.S. forces have struck more than 6,000 targets in Iran, and when combined with Israel’s air force, the total exceeds 15,000. They have gone after senior regime leaders, military commanders, military infrastructure, missile stockpiles, their navy, and air force.
PENTAGON DECLINES TO SHARE US CASUALTY COUNT IN MIDDLE EAST
Iran, in response, has fired thousands of one-way attack drones and hundreds of ballistic missiles at targets in several different countries in the region, including ones that were not a part of the conflict.
Caine said “most” of the U.S. casualties were from Iranian one-way attack drones.
