![US President Donald Trump (left) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth [AFP]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/28/rcv.YNA.20260723.PAF20260723112301009_P1.jpg)
The US military has been tracking casualties from the Iran war under two separate categories — split at the point when a ceasefire MOU broke down — fueling accusations that the Pentagon is undercounting losses and circumventing the War Powers Act.
The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), an agency under the Department of Defense, maintains a publicly accessible database of US military casualties and wounded in major overseas wars and operations since World War I.
As of Monday (local time), the database showed 14 killed and 417 wounded under Operation Epic Fury, which began Feb. 28.
US media outlets have raised concerns that four American troops who died at bases in Jordan and Iraq are missing from that count. Those four deaths, it emerged, were placed under a newly created category called "Overseas Operations."
That category appears to track deaths and injuries from July 7, the date US forces resumed airstrikes after the ceasefire MOU between the United States and Iran last month effectively collapsed.
The New York Times reported that the "Overseas Operations" entry was created Monday. It is not yet clear whether the category covers only combat with Iran. The entry currently lists 4 killed and 207 wounded — a figure that stands in sharp contrast to the military's previous public statements of "fewer than 100" wounded.
![A database of US military casualties and wounded, maintained by the DMDC under the Department of Defense [DMDC website]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/28/news-p.v1.20260728.17b4133a46d74f519e65d6530bade0b8_P1.jpg)
The Pentagon has maintained that Operation Epic Fury ended with a truce in April and that the recently resumed fighting with Iran constitutes a new war.
President Donald Trump formally notified Congress on July 10 that hostilities with Iran had resumed. The New York Times reported that Trump has characterized the renewed fighting as a new conflict, not a continuation of the war that began in February.
The Associated Press said the Pentagon's decision to post a separate casualty tally under "Overseas Operations" raises questions about whether the military is properly accounting for the toll its troops have suffered in the Iran war.
Some analysts say Trump and the Pentagon may have made it deliberately difficult to get a clear picture of total deaths and injuries from the Iran war in order to manage the political burden.
Separately, the split may also be intended to sidestep a provision of the War Powers Act, which requires the president to end military operations within 60 days without congressional authorization.
Trump administration officials have argued that the president's notification to Congress declaring a "new resumption of hostilities" with Iran means "the 60-day clock has restarted," The New York Times reported.
A resolution invoking the War Powers Act to require congressional authorization for the Iran war passed the House on Thursday but was defeated in the Senate the same day.
mokiya@heraldcorp.com
