WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said it created a separate category in its official casualty system for service members killed and wounded in the renewed U.S.-Iran fighting because “Operation Epic Fury,” the military’s name for combat operations against Tehran, has ended.
The Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS, removed the four soldiers killed and dozens of troops wounded in the latest exchange of fire from its official Iran war tally. The casualties were placed in a new category called “Overseas Operations.” The overall number of wounded from the conflict now stands at 642 troops, combining the figures listed under Operation Epic Fury with those listed in the new category.
A separate casualty classification
A Pentagon official said Tuesday that the military decided to classify casualties from the latest strikes under the new category because Operation Epic Fury had concluded. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, did not provide a date for the formal end of the operation.
The classification raises questions about how the impact on U.S. service members is counted after the U.S. military conducted nearly two weeks of consecutive strikes against Iran in an effort to gain control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by striking neighboring countries in the Middle East that host U.S. forces. After several days of paused hostilities and mediation efforts aimed at returning both sides to negotiations, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles fired at American troops in the region.
The U.S. and Iran had agreed to a tenuous ceasefire in April and signed an interim deal to end the war in mid-June before strikes began again this month, when Iran attacked ships in the crucial shipping route.
After the four soldiers killed this month were removed from the online Iran war tally, Pentagon spokespeople said last week on social media that the change was not an effort to hide the growing human cost of the conflict. They attributed it to “anomalies” and “temporary data disruptions” that were being resolved “imminently.” On Sunday, the troops appeared by name in the new Overseas Operations category. Three soldiers were killed when a base in Jordan was struck July 17 by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones. One died in Iraq the following day during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.
We achieved the objectives of that operation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made that statement at a White House briefing in May, saying the operation had “concluded.” When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before Congress the following week, however, he did not argue that the Iran war had concluded and provided lawmakers with cost estimates for the conflict running through Sept. 30.