Iran war casualty count eclipses 600 as Pentagon quietly changes accounting

Iran war casualty count eclipses 600 as Pentagon quietly changes accounting. The Pentagon updated its war casualty database Saturday, recording more than 140 additionally wounded and restoring the four soldiers killed due to Iranian strikes last week amid questions about a lack of transparency over the war's toll. The Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS, also featured a new tracking category — 'Overseas Operations' — for killed and wounded 'starting July 7.' When the new Pentagon data is combined with updated totals for Operation Epic Fury, 18 troops have died and another 624 have been wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on Feb. 28. The number of wounded is a significant increase from the previous peak of 482 observed by CNN last week. The Pentagon drew scrutiny from media outlets and lawmakers last week when killed and wounded numbers decreased in the DCAS system as Iranian attacks continued. The 12 Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday requesting answers on what was causing the changes. The Defense Department's acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, insisted in a Thursday social media post that the decreases were due to 'temporary data disruptions on the (DCAS) website.' Beyond the July 7 starting date, the new 'overseas operation' category on the DCAS site does not include any distinguishing details or specify the conflict in which the casualties occur. The category features a by-name list of fallen troops that includes the three Army soldiers killed in Jordan due to an Iranian strike and the soldier killed in northern Iraq last weekend.