The number of American service members killed since the start of the U.S.-Iran war has risen to 17 after the U.S. military announced that a service member serving in northern Iraq was killed in action on July 18.
U.S. Central Command disclosed the latest death without immediately releasing the service member’s identity, unit or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The announcement came shortly after CENTCOM confirmed that two other U.S. service members had been killed in Jordan on July 17 while American and allied forces were responding to Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.
A third service member remains missing following the Jordan attack, while four other U.S. personnel were wounded, according to the military.
The two deaths in Jordan had raised the official American military death toll in the war to 16. The separately announced fatality in northern Iraq takes the cumulative toll to 17.
The war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran, triggering retaliatory Iranian attacks on U.S. bases, Israel and several Gulf countries. More than 420 American service members have also been wounded during the conflict, many of them suffering traumatic brain injuries linked to missile strikes and explosions.
How the 17 U.S. service members were killed
The first American deaths were recorded during the opening phase of the conflict in March.
Six U.S. soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone struck an American command centre in Kuwait.
Another soldier later died from injuries suffered during an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Six additional service members were killed when a U.S. KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft supporting military operations against Iran crashed in Iraq.
Those incidents brought the initial death toll to 13: seven personnel killed in hostile attacks and six in the KC-135 crash.
The toll rose to 14 following the death of a U.S. Navy pilot in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea on July 1. The Navy described the incident as an emergency landing and said there was no indication that hostile action had caused the crash. Three other sailors aboard the helicopter were rescued.
Two service members were then killed during the Iranian attack in Jordan on July 17, bringing the toll to 16.
The latest fatality in northern Iraq raises the total to 17.
The current breakdown is:
Six soldiers killed in the Iranian drone strike in Kuwait; one soldier who died from wounds suffered in Saudi Arabia; six service members killed in the KC-135 crash in Iraq; one Navy pilot killed in the Arabian Sea helicopter crash; two service members killed in Jordan; and one service member killed in action in northern Iraq.
Of the 17 deaths, seven resulted from aviation accidents, while the remaining 10 were recorded as combat or hostile-action deaths, based on the information released so far.
The Pentagon has not yet provided further details about the northern Iraq incident, including whether the service member was killed by an Iranian strike, another armed group or during a separate military operation.
CENTCOM has continued conducting strikes against Iranian military targets, announcing eight consecutive nights of attacks as the collapse of an interim ceasefire pushed the two sides back towards wider confrontation.