Iran war proves to be costly for America as number of casualties of US service members crosses 770
The Pentagon on Saturday provided figures about the causalities of US service members in the Iran war and said the death count has risen to more than 770, reported The Washington Post. The development comes as the conflict enters its sixth month. The Washington Post further reported that the Pentagon’s casualty reporting system showed 774 US service members killed or wounded, including 18 killed and 756 wounded in the conflict.
Pentagon says scores of new troops were wounded
As per the news agency, the Pentagon added scores of new troops to the wounded list in recent days, even as the United States and Iran have largely remained under a ceasefire in recent weeks.
The pentagon noted that some of the newly added figures could reflect a delay between an injury being recorded in the military’s medical system and its appearance in the Pentagon’s casualty database.
Amid these development, US President Donald Trump also did not extend the ceasefire with Iran, as per the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding that was signed in June, after it expired on Monday.
There has been no large-scale resumption of combat operations off late
However, in a big relief, there has been no large-scale resumption of combat operations by either side since then. In the meantime, the CNN reported that the number of wounded US service members has crossed 750 on Wednesday.
Even as the figures under the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) for “Overseas Operations” are combined with those for Operation Epic Fury, CNN reported that 18 service members have died since the US launched the war against Iran on February 28.
The CNN also reported that the Pentagon created the “Overseas Operations” category last month in DCAS for service members killed and wounded “starting July 7.
The Pentagon has not provided additional details or specified the conflict associated with the category. The July 7 date also corresponds with the day the Trump administration informed the US Congress that a new conflict with Iran had begun in a War Powers Act notification.
Pentagon faces scrutiny over changes to its casualty data
The latest figures from the Pentagon come weeks after the Pentagon faced scrutiny over changes to its casualty data. The number of killed and wounded service members had decreased in the database even as Iranian attacks continued, with four deaths and dozens of injuries disappearing from the totals before being restored.
The War Department had earlier attributed those changes to “temporary data disruptions”, according to CNN and the agency also reported that the Pentagon has been slow to disclose wounded troops during the conflict, with officials citing security concerns.
US President Trump, meanwhile, said that the situation with Iran is “so good” right now, as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain paused and the Strait of Hormuz continues to be a key point of tension in the conflict.
With inputs from ANI
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