Pentagon quietly admits true death toll of Iran war as 21 Americans are killed and hundreds are injured… after Hegseth claimed missing casualties were ‘a complete lie’

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2h ago

By KELLY GARINO, US REPORTER 02:55 11 Oct 2026, updated 02:57 11 Oct 2026

The Pentagon has quietly raised the death toll of Americans killed in the war with Iran to 21, weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth branded reports of missing casualties ‘a complete LIE.’

The new total was added to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) late Friday evening, exposing a stark gap between the military’s earlier public death toll.

‘There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude,’ two senior Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee told The Washington Post.

The update comes just weeks after six US officials told The Post that the Pentagon had underreported the number of American service members killed since the war began on February 28.

In September, five officials told the outlet at least 22 service members had died, four more than listed in the public database, while a sixth put the toll at 23.

One official added that three US contractors based in the region had also died since combat operations began.

Hegseth furiously rejected the reporting in a social media post at the time, declaring: ‘This is DISGUSTING and FAKE. A complete LIE.’

‘Shame on the Washington Post – they’re worse than the Iranian state media,’ he added.

At the time, the Pentagon’s database listed 18 US military deaths since the start of the Iran war, including those caused by both hostile and nonhostile actions.

But the latest tally includes two deaths newly classified as noncombat: Army Maj Sorffly Davius, 46, and an unidentified Navy sailor, an official familiar with the matter told the Post anonymously.

Davius, an Army National Guard member who served with the 42nd Infantry Division at Camp Buehring in Kuwait, died in the oil-rich country on March 6. His cause of death was listed as ‘undetermined.’

His death was acknowledged by the Pentagon earlier this year, when officials said he had been sent to Kuwait last summer as part of Operation Spartan Shield, a mission to partner with regional militaries.

The Pentagon did not add his death to DCAS until later, a delay that has come under fire from congressional Democrats.

The Navy sailor, meanwhile, is listed in the department’s database only as a woman between 25 and 30 years old. She died by suicide in September, the official told The Post.

Defense officials also acknowledged the death of another soldier, Sgt Devin A Seibel, whose death the military had previously said was unrelated to ongoing operations in Iran.

Seibel, 26, served with the Air Ambulance Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, and died on May 31 at Erbil Airbase in Iraq during what officials described as a ‘training-related incident.’

As of Friday, his death was listed in the military’s database under Operation Inherent Resolve, the US military’s decade-long campaign against the Islamic State.

With his death now included in the tally, the number of US troops publicly reported killed in the Middle East stands at 22.

The database also lists 865 US service members wounded since the war with Iran began, as the conflict continues to face widespread opposition among the American public, according to polls.

However, the figures carry consequences beyond public accountability.

After a service member dies, the military conducts a line-of-duty investigation to establish whether the death occurred while they were performing official duties, a determination that can affect benefits for their surviving family.

Rep Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep Chrissy Houlahan, the panel’s leading Democrat on military personnel, said they were glad the Pentagon had finally issued a ‘public correction.’

But they criticized the fact that the figures were changed only after Congress intervened, calling the episode an ’embarrassment’ for the US military, according to The Post.

Meanwhile, in a statement to the outlet, the Pentagon said it ‘continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties.’

Without directly addressing the increased death toll, the Pentagon said it was making ‘revisions’ to how DCAS reports casualties.

The military said it was now using a new category, ‘pending adjudication,’ as it works through casualty reports, a change first reported by Defense Scoop.

But the public and lawmakers charged with overseeing the Pentagon have struggled to establish the true toll of US troops killed and wounded in the Iran war since the Trump administration changed its reporting methods mid-conflict.

Historically, DCAS has recorded casualties under the relevant named operation, regardless of whether service members were killed or injured by enemy action or nonhostile incidents – including accidents and suicide.

Over the summer, the Pentagon began separating casualties from the Iran war into two categories: Operation Epic Fury, the name assigned to the conflict, and Overseas Operations, a separate classification.

The shift followed Trump’s declaration that Operation Epic Fury had ended, despite continued US-Iran exchanges of fire. The Pentagon moved some casualties into a separate category rather than counting them under Epic Fury.

It also came as the administration sought to portray the war as a success, despite stalled efforts to secure a lasting peace deal and continued Iranian attacks on US forces and shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Critics have accused the administration of downplaying the human cost of a war that has lasted far longer than Trump predicted, when he said it would end in just ‘weeks.’

Now, the higher death toll has sparked fresh backlash against Trump’s administration ahead of the midterms, with thousands taking to social media to mock its claims of being the most ‘transparent’ in history.

‘Hegseth yelling it was a lie… he is a liar,’ one social media user wrote after Friday’s update.

Another said: ‘Man… what have you done! Blood on your hands @ pistol Pete.’

‘Lives lost for no purpose. Gas and grocery prices sky high from Trump’s war of choice. #MAGA?’ a third wrote.

One comment read: ‘Treasonous administration. Can we live stream Pete’s criminal trial?’

‘They lie about everything, another cover up. My condolences to their families,’ another user wrote.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Pentagon and White House for comment.

The Pentagon’s ‘admission’ of guilt also came just hours after Trump pushed back on Hegseth’s shocking claim that the Fort Hood killer’s execution would be broadcast live for Americans to watch, saying the decision was up to him.

He said on Thursday that Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death after killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, would be slain in a live broadcast.

The proposal drew fierce backlash, with critics accusing the Trump administration of taking a dystopian and inhumane approach to the execution.

Trump, however, said Saturday that the question of whether it would be livestreamed remained unresolved, telling reporters at the White House that the final call was his to make.

‘There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it. Cause you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but I’ll make a decision,’ the president said.

Trump’s change of tone followed his endorsement of Hegseth’s idea days earlier, when he declared that Hasan ‘deserves it.’

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