The number of US military deaths linked to the ongoing Iran war may be higher than the figure publicly reported by the Pentagon, according to a report by The Washington Post.
The newspaper said several US officials familiar with internal Defense Department casualty records put the number of military fatalities at significantly more than the figure currently shown in the Pentagon’s public database.
According to The Washington Post, five US officials said at least 22 American service members have died since the conflict began. That figure is four higher than the 18 military fatalities listed in the Pentagon’s public Defense Casualty Analysis System.
A sixth official cited by the newspaper put the number at 23, while noting that not all of the deaths were necessarily directly connected to combat operations in the Iran war.
The report said the officials were familiar with internal casualty accounting within the US Defense Department and spoke anonymously. Details surrounding some of the additional deaths, including the identities of the service members and the circumstances of their deaths, were not immediately clear.
The discrepancy has raised questions over the way American military casualties are being recorded publicly during the conflict. The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon declined to address specific questions about the difference between its public figures and the numbers provided by the officials.
The Pentagon’s public database had listed 18 US military fatalities as of Friday, including deaths resulting from both hostile and non-hostile incidents since the beginning of the Iran conflict. The database also showed that more than 820 US service members had been wounded in action during the conflict.
