Pentagon raises US troop death toll in Iran war to 21

The Pentagon late Friday raised the official death toll of US troops linked to military operations against Iran to 21, acknowledging that two additional deaths had not previously been included in its figures.

As of Friday, the Defense Casualty Analysis System listed 21 military deaths connected to the operations, according to The Washington Post.

The newly included deaths involved Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, an Army National Guard member who died in Kuwait on March 6, and an unidentified Navy service member who died by suicide in September, the newspaper reported.

The updated figures also showed that 865 US service members had been wounded during the operations.

Separately, the military confirmed the death of another soldier in a training accident that officials said was unrelated to the conflict with Iran.

Sgt. Devin A. Seibel, 26, died in Iraq in May. His death was recorded under Operation Inherent Resolve, the military’s long-running campaign against the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group.

Two senior Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee welcomed what they described as the Pentagon’s “public correction” of the casualty figures Friday.

“There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude,” Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on its military personnel subcommittee, said in a joint statement.

They also described the need for congressional intervention to correct the figures as “an embarrassment” for the military.

In a statement to The Washington Post, the Pentagon did not directly address the revised death toll.

Instead, it outlined changes to its casualty reporting system, including the introduction of a “pending adjudication” category for records still under review.

The Pentagon reiterated its commitment to accurate reporting, saying it “continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties.”

ANEWS wp:paragraph