Quill Lawrence

Central Command acknowledged that the F-35 made a safe but unplanned landing and said the incident is under investigation.

But a U.S.

official not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to NPR that the F-35 fighter was hit by enemy fire and that the pilot is stable after requiring stitches.

It's the first known instance of Iran's anti-aircraft defenses damaging a manned American plane.

This news broke hours after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Iran's air defenses have been, quote, flattened.

Still, Iran has not shot down a single U.S.

or Israeli pilot over nearly three weeks of war and thousands of bombing sorties over Iranian airspace.

Quill Lawrence, NPR News.

Mohammad Nazir Pakhtiwal served alongside American special forces in Afghanistan, according to documents seen by NPR.

He helped U.S.

troops for over a decade.

In 2021, Pakhtiwal fled Afghanistan with his family because the Taliban were threatening to kill Afghans who had collaborated with the U.S.,

Since then, Paktiwal had been living in Texas with his wife and six children.

A family statement says last Friday he was taking his kids to school when federal agents in unmarked cars surrounded Paktiwal and drove him away.

He complained of breathing problems and was given medical attention, according to a statement from ICE, but the next morning he was pronounced dead in a Dallas hospital.

ICE says the cause of death is under investigation.

Quill Lawrence, NPR News.

CENTCOM announced that two U.S.

refueling tanker aircraft were involved in an incident in friendly airspace.

One of them, a KC-135 tanker, went down in western Iraq, which borders Jordan.