Pentagon says number of Iranian strikes has fallen sharply since the start of the war
As many as 150 United States troops have been wounded in the 10-day-old war with Iran, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The casualty figure has not been previously reported. Prior to Reuters’ publication of the figure, the Pentagon had only disclosed eight US personnel seriously injured.
In a statement after Reuters published its report, the Pentagon estimated the figure to be approximately 140 wounded and said the vast majority of them were minor.
“Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 140 US service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks,” said chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
Read More: ‘We only think of enemy’s complete surrender,’ says Iran’s IRGC
He said 108 of the wounded service members had already returned to duty.
Parnell said the eight seriously wounded service members were receiving the highest level of medical care.
Reuters could not determine the types of injuries and whether they include traumatic brain injuries, which are common after exposure to blasts.
Iran has launched retaliatory strikes against US military bases since the start of the conflict on Feb. 28. It has also struck diplomatic missions in Arab Gulf states, as well as hotels and airports, and damaged oil infrastructure.
Read: Pete Hegseth says Tuesday ‘most intense day’ of US attacks on Iran
The Pentagon says the number of Iranian strikes has fallen sharply since the start of the war, as the US military bombs Iran’s weapons inventories and targets Iran’s more limited number of missile launchers.
Asked if Iran was a stronger adversary than he expected when the US military drew up its war plans, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters earlier on Tuesday that the fight was not harder than expected.
“I think they’re fighting, and I respect that, but I don’t think they are more formidable than what we thought,” Caine told a Pentagon briefing.
How many people have been killed so far?
Scores of people have been killed across the Middle East since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, drawing in several countries across the region. Gulf states hosting US military bases, as well as Lebanon, have also been affected by the conflict.
Below are the reported death tolls as of March 11, more than a week after hostilities began. Reuters has not independently verified the figures.
Iran
At least 1,270 people have been killed, according to state media reports, including 40 people who were killed on Monday in an Israeli strike on a residential area in Tehran.
Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid said more than 1,300 civilians were killed in the war. The reason for the discrepancy was not clear.
This also includes 175 schoolgirls and staff in a missile strike on a primary school in Minab in southern Iran on the first day of the war, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. It remains unclear whether the overall toll includes casualties from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Separately, the Iranian army said 104 people were killed when a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka last week. Those deaths were not included in the Red Crescent tally.
Lebanon
At least 594 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Lebanese authorities. The World Health Organisation said at least 84 of those killed were children.
Iraq
At least 16 people have been killed, according to Iraqi police and health officials. One commander from Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, was killed in an airstrike on his vehicle on March 5, police sources told Reuters.
Israel
Twelve people have been killed, including nine people in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on March 1, according to Israel’s ambulance service Magen David Adom.
The military said two soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, the first fatalities among its troops since hostilities with Hezbollah resumed last week after the group attacked Israel in support of Iran.
Syria
Four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on February 28, state news agency SANA said.
United Arab Emirates
Six people have been killed in Iranian attacks, according to the UAE defence ministry.
Saudi Arabia
Two people were killed when a projectile struck a residential area in Al-Kharj city, southeast of Riyadh.
Bahrain
Two people were killed in separate Iranian attacks, the most recent hitting a residential building in the capital Manama, according to the interior ministry.
Kuwait
Two people, including a child, were killed in Iranian attacks, according to Kuwait’s health ministry. The army also said two interior ministry officers and two soldiers were killed while on duty.
Oman
One person was killed after a projectile struck the Marshall Islands-flagged product tanker MKD VYOM off the coast of Muscat.
