Oct. 10 (UPI) — The Pentagon on Friday updated the death toll of those killed during the Iran war to 21.
Two noncombatant deaths were added to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System on Friday, which had previously reported 19 deaths. At least 865 service members have been injured.
One was Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, of the Army National Guard, who died in Kuwait on March 6, The Washington Post reported. The other was an unidentified Navy servicemember who died by suicide in September.
Casualties for the war are divided in two categories, one for Operation Epic Fury and another for the conflict since July.
In the first category, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 15 service members were killed and 417 wounded.
Since July 7, six troops were killed and 448 wounded.
The revelation comes after The Washington Post reported that the Iran war death toll was higher than the Pentagon was reporting to the public.
At the time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the report a fabrication.
“This is DISGUSTING and FAKE,” Hegseth wrote in a statement on X. “A complete LIE.”
In a statement, the Pentagon told The Post it “continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties.”
“There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude,” said Reps. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Chrissy Houlahann, D-Penn., in a statement. “While we take seriously our duty to serve as the voice of the American people and hold the executive branch accountable as a co-equal branch of government, requiring Congress to step in to rectify such an egregious error is an embarrassment for the Department.
“The failure of Secretary Hegseth to immediately take ownership of the problem also does a grave disservice to the men and women putting their lives on the line in service to our country.”