Three American military aircraft were ‘mistakenly shot down’ in Kuwait today as the US, Israel and Iran continued to exchange deadly attacks.
Multiple unverified videos posted to social media showed a twin-engine fighter jet spiralling down as smoke billowed from its back end.
Another clip showed what appeared to be the pilot falling down in a parachute after ejecting from the aircraft.
The planes were gunned down by Kuwaiti air defences at around 4am UK time during active combat that included Iranian aircraft, the US Central Command said.
The plane in the clip crashed on the outskirts of Al Jahra, west of Kuwait City, according to CNN Arabic.
None of the six crew members were injured and are in stable condition.
Unverified video showed a crew member, without any visible symbols on their uniform, on the ground, standing near a parachute.
Further footage showed a pilot in the back of a black SUV.
US officials confirmed the downed planes were F-15E Strike Eagles, an 1989 model of the F-15 which can reach speeds just shy of 2,000mph.
The warplanes cost around $31million in 1998, or about £46million today, according to the US Air Force.
Kuwait defence officials confirmed the incident in a statement reported by the official state Kuwait News Agency, but did not specify the cause.
The incident comes after the US and Israel launched an assault on Iran on Saturday, killing at least 133 civilians, according to human rights groups.
Further US-Israeli strikes yesterday that struck a girls’ school near a naval base in Minab killed at least 175 people, mostly children.
Video showed half of the Shajarah Tayyebeh school reduced to rubble.
The strikes set off retaliatory attacks by Iran, with one killing US soldiers at a base in Kuwait.
US President Donald Trump, who has been threatening Iran for weeks, said: ‘Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends.
‘That’s the way it is. Likely be more.’
Just one day later, US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader of almost 37 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, creating a tense power vacuum.
Israeli airstrikes this morning killed 31 people in Lebanon in response to earlier rocket fire by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group.
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