Facing accusations of understating the number of US troops killed and wounded in the war with Iran, the Pentagon changed the way it publishes casualty figures on Sunday. At the same time it said the number of troops wounded this month is higher than previously stated.
The ceasefire between Iran and the United States began to break down from 7 July and the fighting intensified again. Under the Pentagon’s new method, casualty figures from after 7 July are no longer kept in the main list for the Iran war. They are instead published on a separate web page headed “casualties in military operations conducted overseas.” Finding the total number of US troops killed and wounded in the war now requires adding the figures from two separate web pages.
Under the new arrangement the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) database restored over the weekend the details of four US troops killed in the Iran war. The information that these four had been killed had recently been removed from the website. This time, however, the four deaths have been placed in a separate section rather than the main list. The Pentagon gave no explanation. Because of the change, the number of troops wounded after 7 July is 142 higher than the Pentagon’s previously published figure.
According to the updated figures, the official number of US troops wounded since 7 July is now 207. The total number wounded since the war began on 28 February stands at 624. The total number of US troops killed since the war began is given as 18.
The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, claimed last week that fewer than 100 US troops had been wounded since 7 July. The Pentagon had not previously published any figure for the number wounded in Iran’s several attacks on the military bases in the Middle East where US troops were stationed.
In a statement at the time Parnell said the accusation of withholding information was entirely fabricated. Such accusations were being made, he said, to make the American public still more anxious after three troops were killed on the battlefield.
A Pentagon spokesperson was asked on Sunday about the new casualty figures and the new method of publication. The spokesperson advised putting the question to the White House. The New York Times sought comment from the White House but received no immediate response.
A New York Times report last week said the Pentagon had reduced the number of US troops shown as killed in the Iran war from 18 to 14. The change provoked strong anger among many former service members, military families and lawmakers.
Several military officials told The New York Times at the time, on condition of anonymity, that four US troops had recently been killed in Jordan and Iraq. As they were killed after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran took effect in April, the Pentagon changed the number shown as killed.
The Pentagon’s acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, said on Thursday that the change on the website was due to a “temporary data error.” The problem would be resolved quickly, he said.
Until Saturday morning, however, the Pentagon website was still showing 14 US troops killed in the Iran war. On Sunday a new section headed “operations conducted overseas” was added to the website. The four additional deaths are published there separately under the heading “casualties in military operations conducted overseas since 7 July 2026.”
As criticism of the publication of casualty figures grew, a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday demanding the release of “full and detailed” information about the number of US troops killed and wounded in the war.
In the week before three US troops were killed in an attack in Jordan, dozens of troops were wounded in three further Iranian attacks. The Pentagon did not publish these casualty figures immediately. That raised questions about whether the government had properly discharged its duty to inform the country about the number of troops killed and wounded in the war.
The senators wrote in the letter: “The American people, Congress, service members and their families have a right to full and accurate information about how many people have had to give their lives in the war. From the information released to the public, it appears the Department of Defense did not consistently release casualty information in a timely and complete way during the conflict.”
Under the War Powers Act of 1973, a president cannot continue a military operation for more than 60 days without the approval of Congress. For that reason the US House of Representatives passed a resolution for the second time on Thursday calling on Trump either to end the war against Iran or to obtain the approval of Congress to continue it. It is seen as another sign of growing dissatisfaction over the Iran war among lawmakers of both parties.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report