The Pentagon has conducted a new round of updates on a public database within the department, raising the death toll to 21 in the US military’s operations against Iran.
On Friday night (October 9), the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) at the Pentagon added two new cases of non-combatant deaths.
An American official familiar with the matter revealed to The Hill on Saturday that among the two additional deceased individuals, one was 46-year-old Army Lieutenant Colonel Sorffly Davius, who served at the Camp Buehring military base in Kuwait under the 42nd Infantry Division and died in March this year for “unknown reasons”. The identity of the other individual, a Navy sailor, has not been disclosed.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon confirmed the death of Davius. The department stated at that time that the lieutenant colonel was deployed to Kuwait last summer to support Operation Spartan Shield. However, the Department of Defense did not immediately add him to the Defense Casualty Analysis System database, drawing criticism from Democratic members of Congress.
While the identity of the Navy sailor newly added to DCAS remains unconfirmed, the system indicates that the service member is a female aged between 25 to 30 years.
According to DCAS data, since the outbreak of the US-Iran war at the end of February, 865 US military personnel have been wounded.
Following a pause in the conflict with Iran and subsequent resumption of large-scale hostilities, the Pentagon has separated the casualties during the Iran war into two categories.
The first category comprises the casualties in Operation Epic Fury, with a total of 15 deaths and 417 injuries. This operation began on February 28 when the US and Israel jointly launched military strikes against Iran.
The second category includes casualties in “overseas operations” targeting Iran, covering casualties since July 7. Data from this category shows a total of 6 deaths and 448 injuries.
(Reference: The Hill)