At least 860 US military deaths in Afghanistan region since 2001, Defense Department says

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 860

As of Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, at least 860 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.

Of those, the military reports 664 were killed by hostile action.

Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 72 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, four were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

There were also four CIA officer deaths and one military civilian death.

The latest deaths reported by the military:

— No new deaths reported.

The latest identifications reported by the military:

— Army Spc. Jason M. Johnston, 24, Albion, N.Y.; died Saturday in Arghandab, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

— Army Staff Sgt. David H. Gutierrez, 35, San Francisco; died Friday at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his dismounted patrol with an improvised explosive device in Howz-e Madad, Afghanistan; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

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