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The Pentagon on Friday raised the official number of U.S. troop deaths linked to military operations against Iran to 21, adding two noncombat deaths that had not previously been included in its public figures.
The newly listed deaths are 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, according to a U.S. official cited by The Washington Post.
The revision comes weeks after The Washington Post reported that more troops had died than the Pentagon disclosed, a report Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called "a complete lie."
Updated data in the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) also shows 865 service members have been wounded in the operations, the Post reported.
The military separately confirmed the death of Sgt. Devin A. Seibel, 26, in a training accident in Iraq in May, which it said was not tied to the Iran conflict.
His death is recorded under Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the campaign against the Daesh terrorist group, bringing to 22 the number of U.S. troops who have died in the Middle East since operations against Iran began on Feb. 28.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania welcomed the Pentagon’s "public correction."
"There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude," they said in a joint statement, calling the need for congressional involvement to correct the figures "an embarrassment" for the military.
In a statement to the Post, the Pentagon did not directly address the revised toll, instead outlining changes to its casualty reporting, including a new "pending adjudication" category for records under review.
The Pentagon "continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties," it said.
Tracking casualties has been complicated because the administration changed how it accounts for troop deaths mid-conflict, after Trump declared Operation Epic Fury over while U.S. and Iranian forces were still exchanging fire, the Post reported.
Critics say the change obscures the war's true cost, as the Iran war death toll now stands at 21.
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