Four crew members were killed when a US Air Force refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on Thursday, the US Central Command announced Friday morning.
The US KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft had six members onboard when it was lost over friendly airspace in an incident during Operation Epic Fury.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” the statement read.
Two planes were involved in the incident with the second aircraft landing safely.
The US military was withholding the identities of the servicemembers until 24 hours after their families were notified.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility for taking down the aircraft Thursday evening.
The group said in a statement that it had shot down the military refueling tanker “in defense of our country’s sovereignty and airspace.”
