Three American fighter jets were shot down over Kuwait in what officials described as “an apparent friendly fire incident,” according to the United States Central Command (Centcom).
The F-15 aircraft were “mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences” while flying in support of ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Iran, officials said in a statement on Monday. All six crew members ejected safely and were recovered. An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.
The development comes amid renewed hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran. On Monday morning, Centcom confirmed the death of a fourth US service member. The individual had been wounded during Iran’s initial retaliatory strikes and “eventually succumbed to their injuries,” officials said.
Three other American deaths were announced on Sunday, also linked to Iranian counterattacks. The US said five additional personnel have been “seriously wounded.” Authorities have not yet released the names of the dead or injured.
When announcing the joint US-Israeli military campaign on Saturday, President Donald Trump cautioned that “the lives of American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war.” In subsequent interviews on Sunday, he suggested the operation could continue for up to four weeks and reiterated that further US casualties were possible.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Monday that 555 people had been killed in Iran following coordinated US and Israeli strikes across more than 130 cities.
The conflict has also spilled into Lebanon after Israel accused Hezbollah of launching rockets into its territory. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes targeting what they described as Hezbollah positions in Beirut and southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 31 people were killed and 149 injured in those strikes.
In Israel, at least nine people were killed and several others wounded following a missile strike on the city of Beit Shemesh.
Elsewhere in the region, explosions were reported in Bahrain and Dubai, while an oil refinery fire broke out in Saudi Arabia amid suspected Iranian strikes.
On Monday morning, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine held a press conference to provide further details on the military campaign, officially named Operation Epic Fury.
The operation began Saturday with a series of strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with other senior Iranian officials.
Hegseth emphasized that the conflict was “not a so-called regime change war,” but added that the regime “surely changed and the world is better off for it.” He also accused Iran of rejecting a “peaceful and sensible” agreement with Washington regarding its nuclear programme.
Meanwhile, Iran has denied President Trump’s claim that it is prepared to return to negotiations, signaling that tensions are likely to remain high in the days ahead.
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