At least 868 US military deaths in Afghan region since 2001, Defense Department says
By APFriday, January 8, 2010
US military deaths in Afghan region at 868
As of Friday, Jan. 8, 2010, at least 868 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 an Associated Press count.
The AP count is the same as the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.
At least 669 military personnel died in the Afghan region as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.
Outside the Afghan region, the 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.
The Defense Department also counts two military civilian deaths.
The latest deaths reported by the military:
— NATO confirmed a U.S. service member died Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, but provided no other details.
The latest identifications reported by the military:
—Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, 24, of Troy, Ill.; died Sunday near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while supporting combat operations; assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan.
—Three Army soldiers died Sunday in Ashoque, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with multiple improvised explosives devices and small arms fire. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
Killed were Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf, 24, of Yoncalla, Ore.; Spc. Brian R. Bowman, 24, of Crawfordsville, Ind.; and Pvt. John P. Dion, 19, of Shattuck, Okla.
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