WASHINGTON – The Pentagon admitted that more troops have died in the Middle East than it had previously publicly reported, raising the official number of U.S. service members who died during the war against Iran to 21.
The two deaths were from noncombat causes. Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, a member of the Army National Guard from Queens, New York, died in Kuwait on March 6. In September, an unidentified member of the Navy died by suicide, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A third death occurred as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military’s effort to combat ISIS. Sgt. Devin A. Seibel, 26, died in Iraq in May after a training accident.
The correction on Oct. 9 to the U.S. military’s official casualty
database, the Defense Casualty Analysis System, comes amid intense congressional scrutiny of how the Pentagon has counted casualties during the Iran war.
The update means that 21 U.S. service members have died since the start of the war against Iran and 865 have been wounded, according to the military’s official toll.
The Washington Post first reported in September that the number of U.S. military casualties in the Iran war was higher than what the Pentagon’s official database showed. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth denied the news report at the time, saying it was “fake” and a “complete lie.”
Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pennsylvania, said in a statement that “no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude.”
“We are glad to see the error has been corrected, and we will continue to fight for transparency and accountability,” they added. “While this public correction is an important first step, we expect the Department to make the necessary changes to policies and procedures to ensure this mistake is not repeated and that they are more transparent with the public going forward.”
Senate Democrats previously demanded answers from the Pentagon about its process for reporting the deaths of U.S. military personnel, expressing concern about “inconsistent casualty figures” in the Defense Casualty Analysis System.
Earlier this year, lawmakers expressed outrage after the Pentagon briefly removed the deaths of four troops in July who were killed during the war against Iran from its casualty database.
The four deaths were initially listed as part of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military’s official name for the war against Iran. They were added back to the database under a different category labeled as “Overseas Operations,” which Pentagon created to count casualties after President Donald Trump announced the end of Epic Fury despite ongoing fighting with Iran.
Americans largely oppose the war in Iran, which has lasted for more than seven months as the U.S. officials struggle to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Iran. The prolonged conflict has driven up gas and diesel prices across the country, forcing Trump to turn to Russia for help lowering prices at the pump.
The war has also put a significant strain on the U.S. military’s personnel and resources, costing at least $43.6 billion as of Sept. 3, according to the Pentagon’s latest estimate. More than 50,000 U.S. service members have been deployed to the Middle East to support the war effort.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pentagon reveals more troops died during Iran war, raises toll to 21
