Last Updated Mar 15, 2018 10:30 PM EDT
Rescue teams are responding to a U.S. military aircraft crash in western Iraq, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement Thursday. There were U.S. personnel on board but it’s unclear how many in total.
The cause for the crash remained unclear. The Iraqi government suggested the crash may have been caused by a technical issue.
The Iraqi government told CBS News the Iraqi Army 8th division is assisting the U.S. to secure the crash site.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, who traveling back to the U.S. from Bahrain, has been briefed about the crash
The U.S.-led coalition battling insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have an outpost in Qaim, which is located near the Syrian border. The anti-ISIS campaign accelerated through much of last year, as coalition and Iraqi forces battled to take back a string of cities and towns.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS in Mosul in July. In the following months Iraqi forces retook a handful of other ISIS-held towns including Tal Afar in August, Hawija in September and Qaim in October. In November, Iraqi forces retook the last Iraqi town held by ISIS — Rawah, near the border with Syria.
The U.S.-led coalition has continued to work with Iraq and Syrian Democratic Forces to shore up the border region to make sure that foreign fighters and insurgents can’t move freely across the region.
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