Six Americans killed after US refuelling jet crashes in Iraq

The US announced on Friday that all six of its soldiers aboard a KC-135 refuelling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq a day earlier have been killed. 

"The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace March 12 during Operation Epic Fury," US Central Command, the Pentagon's Middle East hub, said on X. 

"The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," Centcom asserted. 

"The identities of the service members are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified."

The deaths bring the total number of US personnel killed since 28 February and the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran to 13.

At a press briefing on Friday morning in Washington, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters that "War is hell, war is chaos."

When pressed by a reporter on exactly how many American casualties there have been so far, and also the locations where they were killed, Hegseth hesitated before turning to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Dan Caine, to answer for him.

"A bunch have returned to duty," Caine said.

"We've had... in Kuwait, Jordan, down across the southern flank... a variety of places, most from one-way attack strikes," he added, not providing any actual figures.

Hegseth jumped in to say that for the purposes of "clarity", the Pentagon is not indicating how many personnel are "KIA" (killed in action) or "WIA" (wounded in action), but that "90 percent" have returned to duty.

The comments ultimately proved more confusing. 

President Donald Trump had warned from his very first remarks on the war that Americans would be dying, and potentially in large numbers. 

Iran has claimed hundreds of American dead from its targeting of US assets in the Gulf region, but has not yet provided evidence. 

At least 150 US military personnel are confirmed wounded, it was revealed earlier this week. 

It's unclear if that figure includes the 19 US personnel flown from Saudi Arabia to Germany on Thursday after sustaining wounds in a drone attack.

At the largest Pentagon-run medical facility in Germany, staff have temporarily suspended care for non-urgent cases to focus on combat injuries, the Military Times reported on Thursday. The move has fuelled speculation that there are many more seriously wounded than has been acknowledged. 

'Other fronts'

Despite an investigation underway to determine the cause of the aircraft crash, Centcom appeared certain it was not due to enemy fire. 

But the Institute for the Study of War noted on Thursday that "Iran or Iranian-backed Iraqi militias almost certainly conducted several attacks targeting US and European forces in Iraq on March 11 and 12".

Kataib Hezbollah is the most active Iran-backed militia in Iraq, and it has made targets out of US forces for more than two decades.

The US invasion and destabilisation of Iraq in 2003 created a vacuum whereby Iran was able to assume significant influence among Shia fighters in the country. 

Just hours before the US jet crash, Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, warned in his first statement - read out by Iranian state broadcasting - that his country would be activating new fronts to take on the US and Israel. 

"Studies have been conducted on opening other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and will be extremely vulnerable in them, and their activation will be carried out if the war situation continues and based on the observance of interests," he said.