Pentagon Admits Two Uncounted Deaths, Iran War Toll Hits 21
(MENAFN) The Pentagon late Friday acknowledged that two deaths were left out of its tally, pushing the official count of US troops killed in operations against Iran to 21.
The Defense Casualty Analysis System showed the revised figure as of Friday, according to The Washington Post.
The two added deaths are those of Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, an Army National Guard member who died in Kuwait on March 6, and a Navy service member whose name was not released and who died by suicide in September, the newspaper reported.
The updated data also put the number of US service members wounded in the operations at 865.
In a separate disclosure, the military confirmed the death of Sgt. Devin A. Seibel, 26, who died in Iraq in May. Officials said the training accident that killed him had no connection to the Iran conflict. His death was logged under Operation Inherent Resolve, the long-running US campaign against the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group.
The disclosure drew a sharp response from two senior Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee, who welcomed what they called the Pentagon’s “public correction” of the figures.
“There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude,” Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on its military personnel subcommittee, said in a joint statement.
The lawmakers also called the need for congressional intervention to fix the numbers “an embarrassment” for the military.
The Pentagon, in a statement to The Washington Post, did not directly address the revised toll. It instead described changes to its casualty reporting system, among them a new “pending adjudication” category for records still under review.
The department also reaffirmed its commitment to accurate reporting, saying it “continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties.”
The Defense Casualty Analysis System showed the revised figure as of Friday, according to The Washington Post.
The two added deaths are those of Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, an Army National Guard member who died in Kuwait on March 6, and a Navy service member whose name was not released and who died by suicide in September, the newspaper reported.
The updated data also put the number of US service members wounded in the operations at 865.
In a separate disclosure, the military confirmed the death of Sgt. Devin A. Seibel, 26, who died in Iraq in May. Officials said the training accident that killed him had no connection to the Iran conflict. His death was logged under Operation Inherent Resolve, the long-running US campaign against the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group.
The disclosure drew a sharp response from two senior Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee, who welcomed what they called the Pentagon’s “public correction” of the figures.
“There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude,” Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on its military personnel subcommittee, said in a joint statement.
The lawmakers also called the need for congressional intervention to fix the numbers “an embarrassment” for the military.
The Pentagon, in a statement to The Washington Post, did not directly address the revised toll. It instead described changes to its casualty reporting system, among them a new “pending adjudication” category for records still under review.
The department also reaffirmed its commitment to accurate reporting, saying it “continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties.”
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