This statistic shows the fatalities of the United States' military in Iraq and Afghanistan as of **************, by state. As of ***************, the United States had lost a total of ***** soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, with *** coming from California.

As of March 2021, 11 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in 2020. This is a decrease from a peak of 904 casualties in 2007.

Additional information on fatalities in the Iraq War

The invasion of Iraq by the United States and coalition forces in March 2003 saw the beginning of the Iraq War, a conflict that would continue beyond the end of the decade. Fatalities of American forces were highest in the first five years of conflict as soldiers grappled with the Al Qaeda as well as civil war between those groups seeking to fill the power vacuum left by the removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Casualties progressively decreased from 2008, in part due to attempts by Barack Obama who made the removal of troops from Iraq a central promise of this successful campaign to succeed George W. Bush. In 2013, the majority of Americans considered sending troops to fight in Iraq to be a mistake.

While the number of civilian deaths in the Iraq War was much higher, the trend of numbers decreasing from 2008 onward was in line with the trend for American solider losses. However, civilian deaths rose again from 2013 onward as Iraq returned to heavy conflict with Islamic State.

The high number of American fatalities in the first five years of the Iraq War could be seen as influencing the reluctance of the United States to commit ground troop support in the battle against Islamic State when the issue was discussed in 2015. Not only is the loss of life a tragedy in itself, but the political discourse in the United States surrounding the involvement of their troops in Middle Eastern conflicts has made further involvement unattractive to elected officials. However calls for further ground support are likely to continue as Iraq remained in the top five countries with the most terrorist attacks as of 2019.

The number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan in 2021 amounted to 13 from the Western coalition, as of October 2021. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is a large military operation, being carried out within the framework of the War on Terror.

Afghanistan War

As mentioned above, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which began in October 7, 2001, caused the deaths of many soldiers during the period from 2001 to 2020. Operation Enduring Freedom is an American term for the Afghanistan War, used by the U.S. government.

Operation Enduring Freedom was a response to the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism.

Although it has been nearly 20 years since the Americans started the Global War on Terror, there are still many terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. About 1,750 terrorist attacks were counted in the country 2019.

Due to terrorism in Afghanistan, the number of deaths has increased from 1,952 killed people in 2007 up to 5,312 killed people in 2015 by terrorists. In 2019, the number stood at 8,681.

Between 2003 and 2024, the annual number of civilian deaths due to the Iraq war has fluctuated significantly. As of July, there were 210 deaths in 2024. Civilian Deaths in the Iraq WarCivilian casualties are the deaths of non-military individuals as a result of military operations. The number of documented civilian deaths in the Iraq war peaked in 2006 at 29,526 casualties. Since then, the number had fallen to 4,162 casualties documented in the year 2011, and the number of casualties has been decreasing again since 2014. Due to the nature of the Iraq war and of war reporting, data cannot be considered exact. Many civilian deaths that occurred during the war in Iraq may remain unaccounted for. The Iraq war was launched in March 2003 upon the invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces. Eight years later, in December 2011, the U.S. formally declared an end to the Iraq war. From the start of the war in 2003 until September 30, 2015, it is estimated that the United States spent a total of over 819 billion US dollars on war costs in Iraq. This number includes funding requested by the President and appropriated by Congress, and accounts for both military and non-military spending. Spending was highest in 2008, that year over 142 billion US dollars were spent in Iraq by the United States government. As of 2022, around 6,561 U.S. active-duty military personnel were deployed in North Africa, the Near East, and South Asia. The number of US American soldiers killed in Iraq peaked in 2007 with just over nine hundred causalities. In the same year, there were over 25,000 civilian deaths in Iraq.

The American Civil War is the conflict with the largest number of American military fatalities in history. In fact, the Civil War's death toll is comparable to all other major wars combined, the deadliest of which were the World Wars, which have a combined death toll of more than 520,000 American fatalities. The ongoing series of conflicts and interventions in the Middle East and North Africa, collectively referred to as the War on Terror in the west, has a combined death toll of more than 7,000 for the U.S. military since 2001. Other records In terms of the number of deaths per day, the American Civil War is still at the top, with an average of 425 deaths per day, while the First and Second World Wars have averages of roughly 100 and 200 fatalities per day respectively. Technically, the costliest battle in U.S. military history was the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, which was a part of the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War, and saw upwards of 5,000 deaths over 10 days. However, the Battle of Gettysburg had more military fatalities of American soldiers, with almost 3,200 Union deaths and over 3,900 Confederate deaths, giving a combined total of more than 7,000. The Battle of Antietam is viewed as the bloodiest day in American military history, with over 3,600 combined fatalities and almost 23,000 total casualties on September 17, 1862. Revised Civil War figures For more than a century, the total death toll of the American Civil War was generally accepted to be around 620,000, a number which was first proposed by Union historians William F. Fox and Thomas L. Livermore in 1888. This number was calculated by using enlistment figures, battle reports, and census data, however many prominent historians since then have thought the number should be higher. In 2011, historian J. David Hacker conducted further investigations and claimed that the number was closer to 750,000 (and possibly as high as 850,000). While many Civil War historians agree that this is possible, and even likely, obtaining consistently accurate figures has proven to be impossible until now; both sides were poor at keeping detailed records throughout the war, and much of the Confederacy's records were lost by the war's end. Many Confederate widows also did not register their husbands death with the authorities, as they would have then been ineligible for benefits.

This statistic shows the total number of wounded U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as of January 28, 2014, by state of residence. The total number of wounded U.S. soldiers stood at ******. Out of those, ***** were from California. The number of fatalities among Western coalition soldiers that were involved in the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan can be found here. The total number of military personnel in the U.S. Army can be accessed here.

This poll, conducted December 10-14 and 16, 2003, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit opinions on political and social issues. Views were sought on the 2004 presidential campaign and the war with Iraq, as well as President George W. Bush and his handling of the presidency, foreign policy, and the economy. Respondents were asked whether the country was going in the right or wrong direction, whether President Bush legitimately won the 2000 presidential election, whether it was acceptable to publicly criticize him on terrorism issues, whether his tax cuts were good or bad for the economy, and the condition of the national economy. A series of questions asked whether the result of the war with Iraq and the removal of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was worth the human and economic costs, whether Iraq was an immediate threat to the United States, how well the United States was doing to bring stability and order to Iraq, how long troops should remain there, and whether the United States won the war with Iraq. Several questions asked about the effects of Saddam Hussein's capture on attacks against United States troops in Iraq and threats of terrorism against the United States, whether the United States could win the war in Afghanistan without the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, and who was winning the war on terrorism. Questions were posed regarding the progress made by the Bush administration in reducing the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly, whether it had a clear plan for rebuilding Iraq and the campaign against terrorism, whether it was too quick or too slow in getting the United States involved in a war with Iraq, and whether the administration told everything it knew about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the war. Respondents were also polled on how much attention they paid to the 2004 presidential campaign, whether they would vote for President George W. Bush or a Democratic candidate for president, how certain they were about their choice, which one issue candidates should discuss, whether candidates should support or oppose the war in Iraq and gay marriage, and whether candidates should have political experience inside or outside of Washington. Opinions were solicited on former Vice-President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential nominees (Carol Moseley-Braun, Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Lieberman, Al Sharpton), and the effect of Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean for president. Respondents were polled on whether the Democratic or Republican party would do a better job of ensuring a strong economy, dealing with terrorism, creating new jobs, and rebuilding Iraq, and whether political leaders from middle class backgrounds did a better job representing the middle class than those from wealthy backgrounds. Views were sought on whether homosexuality was immoral, whether it was a choice, whether homosexual couples should be able to form legal civil unions and marry, and whether marriage was mostly a legal or religious matter. Additional topics addressed the use of steroids in professional sports, the recently passed Medicare bill, whether the government should promote traditional values, the public viewing of caskets of soldiers killed in Iraq, and whether President Bush should have attended the funerals of military personnel. Background variables include sex, age, ethnicity, income, marital status, education, religion, religiosity, number of phone lines in household, date of interview, political orientation, political party affiliation, and voter registration and participation history.

The statistic shows the cost of the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2015. In 2013, the costs of the war in Afghanistan amounted to 91.5 billion U.S. dollars. The costs include all of the funding that has been requested by the President and appropriated by Congress for the wars through the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2013. These figures include both military and non-military spending, such as reconstruction. Spending includes only incremental costs – those additional funds that are expended due to the war. For example, soldiers' regular pay is not included but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. These figures also do not include interest payments on the national debt that will result from higher deficits due to war spending. The war in Afghanistan and Iraq The war in Afghanistan is an ongoing conflict that was initiated when the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom in October 7, 2001, in order to remove the Taliban regime from power and to dismantle the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. The war was a direct consequence of the terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001. The United States and its allies quickly captured major cities and towns in the country and drove the Taliban from power. In December 2001, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the United Nations Security Council, to oversee security in Afghanistan. In 2003 the NATO assumed leadership of ISAF troops. ISAF forces include troops from 43 different countries. After the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces, NATO-member countries endorsed an exit strategy for the withdrawal of soldiers from Afghanistan. Up to today, the Afghan war has resulted in more than 10,000 casualties. The Iraq War was an armed conflict between forces from several countries, led by the United States (named “coalition of the willing”), and the Iraqi government. The conflict was initiated on March 20, 2003, when international forces invaded Iraq and officially ended when in December 18, 2011 the U.S. completed its withdrawal of military personnel. The intention of the invasion was to overthrow the existing regime of the Ba’ath party under President Saddam Hussein, establishing democratic elections and forming a new government. The invading forces succeeded, destroying Saddam Hussein’s regime on April 9, 2003. The subsequent emergence of insurgent militancy and display of opposition to invading forces and the newly formed government still continues and causes many fatalities.

After the Second World War, the deadliest conflict for the British Armed Forces was the Malayan Emergency, which lasted from 1948 to 1960 and resulted in the deaths of 1,442 British soldiers. Over a much longer time period, between 1968 and 2007, there were 1,441 operational deaths for the British Armed Forces in Northern Ireland. The Korean War was a noticeably deadly conflict despite its relatively short duration, and had the third-highest number of fatalities for British troops at 1,129. The wars of decolonization The rapid disintegration of the British Empire after 1945 is the cause of many of the conflicts displayed here. In the aftermath of World War Two, there were 70 modern-day countries in the British Empire, but by 1997, Britain’s colonial Empire had vanished. The Palestinian Emergency, which after 1945 caused 754,000 British casualties, as well as the aforementioned Malayan Emergency are just some examples of Britain’s disorderly withdrawal from regions it once controlled. Although the UK won the Falklands War in 1982, the UK's armed forces suffered 237 operational deaths in the ten-day conflict. Recent conflicts The UK armed forces have been involved in several more recent military conflicts, and the deadliest of these was by far the War in Afghanistan, which was responsible for 457 British fatalities. The UK’s involvement in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria is also ongoing, although unlike the Iraq War that took place between 2003 and 2011, where the UK suffered 178 operational deaths, the conflict is fought primarily by the air force. Although no UK soldiers are fighting the War in Ukraine, the UK government has provided extensive equipment and training to the Ukrainian armed forces since 2022, along with several other western nations.  

Since 1970, the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. is the deadliest terrorist attack worldwide, claiming almost 3,000 lives. Moreover, except for the Musha Church massacre during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, all of the 10 most lethal terrorist attacks between 1970 and January 2024 happened after 2001. ISIL stood behind four of these.

Afghanistan was the country most ridden by terrorism

In 2022, Afghanistan topped the Global Terrorism Index, which ranks terrorist activity across the world. While the rise and fall of the Islamic State and its caliphate in Syria and Iraq received much attention during the 2010s, there has been increased terrorist activity in other parts of the world in recent years, particularly in some African countries such as Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Mali.

Taliban was the most active terrorist organization

In 2021, Taliban, which mainly operates in Afghanistan, was the most active terrorist organization that year, being responsible for nearly 800 attacks. The attacks resulted in nearly 4,500 fatalities. Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 after the NATO-mission in the country ended that year.