United States military casualties in the War in Afghanistan
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There were 2,402 United States military deaths in the
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) The War in Afghanistan was an armed conflict that began when an Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom, international military coalition led by the United States launched United States invasion of Afghanistan, an invasion of Afghanistan, ...
. 1,921 of these deaths were the result of hostile action. 20,713 American servicemembers were also wounded in action during the war. In addition, 18 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives also died in Afghanistan. Further, there were 1,822 civilian contractor fatalities. On February 19, 2010, American fatalities had reached 1,000, when U.S. Marine Reconnaissance Cpl. Gregory Stultz of Brazil, Indiana, was killed by small arms' fire in battle with Taliban fighters during the invasion of Marjah,
Operation Moshtarak Operation Moshtarak (Dari for ''Together'' or ''Joint''), also known as the Battle of Marjah, was an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) pacification offensive in the town of Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It involved a combi ...
, and by April 11, 2011, the number was 1,515. By September 2012, the total number surpassed 2,000. The highest number of American fatalities recorded in a single incident occurred on August 6, 2011, in which a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter was shot down in Wardak province killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, plus seven Afghan soldiers and a civilian interpreter. The highest-ranking American servicemember killed by hostile action was Army Major General
Harold J. Greene Harold Joseph "Harry" Greene (February 11, 1959 – August 5, 2014) was a United States Army general who was killed during the War in Afghanistan. During his time with the United States Army, he held various commands associated with engineering ...
in August 2014 during a
fragging Fragging is the deliberate or attempted killing by a soldier of a fellow soldier, usually a superior. U.S. military personnel coined the word during the Vietnam War, when such killings were most often attempted with a fragmentation grenade, some ...
incident by an
Afghan soldier The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can ...
.


Numbers of fatalities

The United States Department of Defense lists 2,462 servicemembers as having died in
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...
and
Operation Freedom's Sentinel Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) was the official name used by the U.S. government for the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in continuation of the War in Afghanistan as part of the larger Global War on Terrorism. Operation F ...
. Of these, 1,926 were due to hostile action and 536 non-hostile. Of those killed, 60 were confirmed to have died in Africa, Southeast Asia or Cuba in support of OEF – Horn of Africa, OEF – Philippines, OEF – Trans Sahara, and in the detainment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Five were killed due to hostile action.DEFENSE CASUALTY ANALYSIS SYSTEM (DCAS)
/ref> Thus, a total of 2,402 United States servicemen were killed in the war in Afghanistan. The website
iCasualties.org iCasualties.org, formally the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, is an independent website created in May 2003 by Michael White, a software engineer from Stone Mountain, Georgia, Stone Mountain, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, to track casualties in ...
lists 2,455 servicemembers and 10 CIA operatives as having died in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom's Sentinel, including 49 who died in support of other OEF operations. This gives a total of 2,406 deaths of servicemen in support of operations in Afghanistan. The iCasualties.org figure of 2,406 is higher than the Department of Defense's officially stated figure, although according to the website all of the names listed at iCasualties.org have been confirmed by the Department of Defense. Many veterans have committed suicide as a result of psychological problems developed during their service.


Fatalities by month and year


All fatalities

Grand Total: 2,456 Source: ''Note: Table omits the deaths of six Department of Defense civilian employees killed in support of operations in Afghanistan and other countries.''


Killed in action only

Grand Total: 1,928 Source: ''Note: Table omits the deaths of four Department of Defense civilian employees killed in action in support of operations in Afghanistan and other countries.''


Publicized incidents of multiple deaths of U.S. service members in the war

*March 1–18, 2002 – Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and another 72 were wounded in Operation Anaconda. Most of the casualties were sustained during the Battle of Takur Ghar when a U.S. transport helicopter was shot down and another one was so badly damaged that it had to land or risk crashing also. All of those killed were members of various special operations units. *June 28, 2005 – 19 U.S. special operations troops were killed in Operation Red Wings. Three of them, Navy SEALs, were killed when their four-man team was ambushed in the mountains of Kunar province. The fourth team member was missing in action for four days before being rescued. After the initial ambush the team called for reinforcements and a quick reaction force dispatched. As they approached the ambush site, insurgents fired an RPG at the helicopter carrying the QRF, shooting it down. All 16 on board were killed. Eight of them were Navy Seals while the other eight were members of the Nightstalkers regiment. *November 9, 2007 – Five US Army soldiers and one
Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...
were killed when their footpatrol was attacked by direct fire from enemy forces in Aranas, Afghanistan. The soldiers were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. The Marine was assigned to
Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center The Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) is a United States Marine Corps installation located in Pickel Meadows on California State Route 108 at above sea level in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Toiyabe National Forest, northwest of B ...
, Bridgeport, California. *July 13, 2008 – Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and another 27 wounded during the
Battle of Wanat The Battle of Wanat took place on July 13, 2008, when around 200 Taliban insurgents attacked American troops stationed near Quam, in the Waygal district of Afghanistan's far eastern Nuristan province. The distant position was primarily defend ...
. A force of 200 Taliban fighters had attacked a remote U.S. outpost at the town of Wanat in an attempt to overrun the base. The base's observation post, positioned on a tiny hill about 50 to 75 meters from the main base, was overrun during the battle and most of the casualties were sustained there. Eventually, U.S. forces managed to repulse the attack but had to evacuate the base a few days later. The battle is considered a U.S. tactical victory, but also a Taliban strategic victory. The soldiers involved in the battle were part of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. *October 3, 2009 – Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and another 24 wounded during the
Battle of Kamdesh The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 400 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanist ...
. A force of 300 Taliban fighters had attacked a U.S. outpost at the town of Kamdesh in an attempt to overrun the base. The Afghan part of the base was overrun during the battle which left four Afghan security forces members dead, 10 wounded and 20 captured. The soldiers involved in the battle were part of 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado. *December 30, 2009 – Five U.S.
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
employees and 2 Xe PMCs were killed and another six wounded in a suicide bomb attack on a military base in Khost province. The Afghan PMC chief of security for the base and a Jordanian military officer from the Jordanian spy agency
Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate, or GID (Arabic: ) is the intelligence agency of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The GID is reportedly one of the most important and professional intelligence agencies in the Middle East; the agency has ...
were also killed in the attack. *On May 28, 2010, the 1,000th American fatality in Afghanistan was a Marine from Camp Pendleton killed by a roadside bomb while on a foot patrol in
Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...
province. *On August 22, 2010, two U.S. soldiers from the Vermont Army National Guard, 3rd Company, 172nd Infantry, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were killed during an attack in Paktya province. *On September 21, 2010 a
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
helicopter crashed in Qalat killing five soldiers of the
101st Airborne The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
, three Navy Seals, and one
Naval Special Warfare The United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC), also known as (NAVSPECWARCOM and WARCOM), is the United States Navy, naval component of United States Special Operations Command, the Unified Combatant Command, unified command responsib ...
support technician. *October 2010 – 4 Marines with 3rd Battalion 5th Marines were killed in the Sangin district when an IED destroyed the MATV they were riding in. The 3/5 Sangin deployment was the deadliest deployment for the whole of the Marine Corps. *April 27, 2011 – Eight United States Air Force Airmen and one American contractor were killed at the Kabul Airport. An Afghan Air Corps pilot became angry during an argument in the operations room at the airfield, then suddenly drew his gun and began shooting. The shooter was fatally wounded at the end of the incident. *August 6, 2011 – 30 American servicemembers, including 22 Navy SEALs, were killed along with seven Afghan special forces members and an Afghan civilian interpreter when their transport helicopter was shot down in Wardak province. A U.S. military dog also died. *February 2012 – Four soldiers were killed in the
2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests The 2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests were a series of protests of varying levels of violence which took place early in 2012 in response to the burning of Islamic religious material by soldiers from the United States Bagram Air Base in Afgh ...
. *August 2012 – Afghan security forces kill twelve US soldiers in so-called "green on blue" attacks. *October 2012 – Three American soldiers killed as a result of a suicide strike against a joint U.S.-Afghan combat team in Eastern Afghanistan that left a total of 14 dead. *March 11, 2013 – Seven Americans died this day when a helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan that killed five American service members and earlier two U.S. special operations forces were gunned down in an insider attack by an Afghan policeman in eastern Afghanistan. *April 6, 2013 – Three U.S. service members in Southern Afghanistan were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives just as a convoy with the international military coalition drove past another convoy of vehicles carrying the governor of Zabul province in that province. *May 3, 2013 – Three US Air Force crew members were killed when their
KC-135R The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transport ...
crashed in Kyrgyzstan while on a combat air refueling mission to Afghanistan. *May 4, 2013 – Seven U.S. service members were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. *November 27, 2018 - Three U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan blast. *April 9, 2019 - Car bomb kills three US servicemembers outside Bagram Air Field. *January 11, 2020 – Two U.S. service members were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. *January 27, 2020 – Two US Air Force crew members were killed when an E-11A aircraft
crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stations, along with some Alternativ ...
*February 8, 2020 – Two U.S. Special Operations Soldiers were killed and six service members wounded from an insider "Green on Blue" attack in Nangarhar. *August 26, 2021 – Thirteen U.S. service members from the US Marine Corps, US Navy and US Army were killed in a suicide bombing attack during evacuations at the Kabul airport.


See also

*
Coalition casualties in Afghanistan , there have been 3,502 coalition deaths in Afghanistan as part of ongoing coalition operations ( Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF) since the invasion in 2001. In this total, the American figure is for deaths "In and Around Afghanistan" whi ...
*
Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–2021) During the War in Afghanistan, according to the Costs of War Project the war killed 176,000 people in Afghanistan: 46,319 civilians, 69,095 military and police and at least 52,893 opposition fighters. However, the death toll is possibly higher due ...
*
Harold J. Greene Harold Joseph "Harry" Greene (February 11, 1959 – August 5, 2014) was a United States Army general who was killed during the War in Afghanistan. During his time with the United States Army, he held various commands associated with engineering ...
, the highest-ranking American to die in the war in Afghanistan


References


External links


Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians
Congressional Research Service.
Operation Enduring Freedom Coalition Casualties
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Forces Casualties In The War In Afghanistan Military history of Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) casualties