US military officials said three fighter jets crashed in Kuwait after being hit by friendly fire from Kuwaiti air defence systems, marking the first shooting down of US aircraft since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran over the weekend.
All six crew members of the three F-15 fighter jets ejected and descended to the ground on parachutes before rescuers found them, US Central Command said in a statement on 2 March.
The incident occurred around 8 a.m. local time as the fighters were engaged in “active combat operations that included attacks by Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones.”
Earlier in its statement, Kuwait’s defence ministry also said several fighter jets had crashed and noted that crew members had been recovered and taken to hospitals. Kuwait’s statement did not mention friendly fire as the cause of the incident.
Video posted on social media shows at least one aircraft falling from the sky and parachuting over the Kuwaiti city of Al Jahra.
The joint US-Israeli strike on Iran, which Washington has labelled Operation Epic Fury and is in its third consecutive day, has killed at least four US troops. US media reports that three of the dead soldiers were part of a “support unit” deployed to Kuwait. At least six other American servicemen are also reportedly injured in the incident.
A fourth American reportedly died on 2 March after being seriously injured in Iran’s initial attacks, officials said. It was unclear whether the man was injured in Kuwait or elsewhere.
The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, was hit by Iranian missiles on 28 February.