Middle East latest: Rescue effort underway after US military plane crashes in Iraq

US Central Command officials say ‘incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury’

A man walks along a road as smoke rises following attacks early morning, in Basirma, Iraq, on Thursday. Picture: AP Photo/Leo Correa

Rescue efforts were underway on Friday as the US military sought to find and extract the crew of a US military refuelling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday.

It was unclear if the crew of the KC-135 aircraft had been harmed in the incident, which US Central Command said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. At least five crew were reportedly onboard.