More US troops died in Iran war than Pentagon disclosed – WaPo

Sources put the toll at up to 23, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was quick to brand the report a “lie” The number of US service members who have died while deployed in the Middle East since the start of the Iran war is higher than the Pentagon’s public tally, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing military sources.

The Pentagon’s public casualty database may be missing as many as five military fatalities, according to the report.

As of Friday, the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) listed 18 US military fatalities, including deaths from hostile and non-hostile action since the Iran war began on February 28.

Five sources, however, told the outlet there have been at least 22 military fatalities, while a sixth put the toll even higher, saying 23 service members have died since the war began.

Not all of the additional deaths were directly tied to the conflict, the official said, but involved US personnel stationed in the Middle East amid the ongoing hostilities.

Three US contractors based in the region have also died since combat operations began, the official added.

Read more CENTCOM puts price tag on Iran war It is unclear whether the discrepancy was intended to downplay the war’s toll or stemmed from administrative procedures for classifying military deaths.

The US administration’s casualty accounting already faced scrutiny in July, when the Pentagon briefly removed four Iran war deaths from its public tally during a since-failed ceasefire – three troops killed in an Iranian missile strike on a US base in Jordan and another killed the next day during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone in Iraq.

The Pentagon blamed a data-processing error after the removals drew congressional scrutiny.

The deaths later reappeared alongside some 207 wounded personnel, but under “Overseas Contingency Operations” rather than Operation Epic Fury, the administration’s name for the Iran war.

Read more Disgruntled troops leak PHOTOS of extensive damage to US bases from Iranian strikes Separately, the Pentagon said two US service members have died in the Middle East since February on missions unrelated to the war.

Sgt.

Devin Seibel was killed in a training accident in Irbil, Iraq, on May 31, while Maj.

Sorffly Davius died after an unspecified medical emergency in Kuwait on March 6.