Numbers of Combat and Non-combat Deaths

The problem of counting non-combat deaths is tackled by a reporter and this is her summary, based on goverment statistics:

Q&A on the News

By Lori Johnston

For the AJC

Q: How many deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq were due to combat and how many are non-combat related? — Don Haller, Douglasville

A: As of Aug. 9, there had been 4,408 U.S. military and 13 Department of Defense civilian deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom, for a total of 4,421 according to the DOD. Of those, 3,489 were the result of combat, meaning 932 were non-hostile. There have been 1,619 U.S. military deaths and two DOD civilians deaths in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan only), of which 270 were non-hostile. Operation Enduring Freedom also includes U.S. military forces in 15 other countries: Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen. There have been 100 deaths in those countries, 89 of which were non-hostile. The numbers of fatalities can be found at www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf

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