<\/p>\n
U.S. casualties of<\/span> the Iran War spiked even as U.S. Central Command withheld information about Americans killed and injured from the public. It\u2019s part of a long-running pattern of the Trump administration manipulating such data.<\/p>\n A crushing wave of attacks in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait left U.S. forces in \u201cdisarray,\u201d causing significant damage to facilities, dozens of injuries, and the first troops killed in action since a June ceasefire collapsed, according to a U.S. official. Three Army soldiers were killed in \u201cdevastating\u201d ballistic missile attacks on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, said the official whom The Intercept is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly. \u00a0<\/p>\n Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, was killed in action on Friday. Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, was killed on Saturday. The third soldier is provisionally listed as missing, but the official said that \u201cunidentified remains\u201d found after the attack were \u201ccertainly\u201d those of the missing soldier. A second official confirmed this assessment. At least four and as many as 10 troops were also injured in the attacks in Jordan, according to the first official.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In northern Iraq, a U.S. service member was killed and another wounded on Saturday when ordnance from a downed Iranian drone exploded. CENTCOM claimed that the injuries occurred during a \u201ccontrolled detonation<\/a>\u201d of the downed aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n The surge in deaths and injuries raise the official U.S. casualty count to at least 446. U.S. casualties have increased by more than 15 percent since the first ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was struck on April 8. The first official told The Intercept that recent attacks had wounded \u201cfar more\u201d personnel than are reflected in the Pentagon\u2019s current casualty count. They did not provide numbers but said \u201cdozens\u201d had received medical attention.<\/p>\n Neither CENTCOM nor the Pentagon replied to numerous requests by The Intercept for information on the casualties, nor would either address the effort to cover up U.S. losses.<\/p>\n Reporting<\/a> by The Intercept<\/a>\u00a0previously found<\/a> that the Pentagon\u2019s\u00a0official tally of dead and wounded personnel<\/a>\u00a0is a gross undercount<\/a>, stemming from what one U.S. government official called a \u201ccasualty cover-up<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 The Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS, which tracks \u201cdeceased, wounded, ill or injured<\/a>\u201d service members for\u00a0Congress and the president, is missing hundreds of dead and wounded personnel. The official tally was also previously adjusted downward by 15 casualties<\/a> without explanation. For months, the Pentagon has ignored requests by The Intercept for comment or clarification.<\/p>\n On Monday, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon withheld information on \u201cdozens of U.S. military injuries in Iran War.\u201d Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the article \u201cbaseless and malicious<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. bases across the Middle East suffered \u201csignificant\u201d damage over the last week, according to the official speaking on the condition of anonymity. That source said Iran had learned how to defeat U.S. air defense systems by overwhelming them using a mix of ballistic missiles and attack drones. They said multiple U.S. aircraft had also been damaged in the attacks. Videos circulating<\/a> on social media<\/a> showed the\u00a0impact<\/a>\u00a0and aftermath of Friday\u2019s missile strikes on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got some missiles. They\u2019ve got some drones,\u201d Trump said on Sunday<\/a> of an Iranian military he has insisted<\/a>, for months, had been annihilated<\/a>. \u201cWe hit them very hard, again, tonight and we did that in honor of the probably three, probably three as opposed to two, great patriots.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. Central Command announced later on Sunday night that it had \u201csuccessfully completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes,\u201d claiming that the \u201cU.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief\u2019s direction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTheir sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The office of self-styled War Secretary Pete Hegseth attempted to keep information about the new casualties under wraps. \u201cWe have nothing to provide beyond what is listed on the website,\u201d a representative of Hegseth\u2019s office told The Intercept late Friday night, without specifying which website, when questioned about U.S. casualties. Hours later, U.S. Central Command acknowledged \u201ctwo U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action\u201d on Friday amid \u201cIranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.\u201d The command also disclosed that four other troops \u201cwere medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals,\u201d an unspecified number of other troops were evaluated for injuries, and \u201cone service member is currently missing in action.\u201d CENTCOM later stripped \u201cin action\u201d from the announcement of the missing soldier, but would not explain the reason to The Intercept.<\/p>\n \u201cGodspeed, heroes,\u201d Hegseth wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cTheir sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n The spike in U.S. casualties over the last week followed the Pentagon quietly adding another fatality to its rolls<\/a> earlier Monday. After Iran claimed\u00a0to have\u00a0killed three U.S. personnel<\/a>\u00a0in Kuwait last weekend, U.S. Central Command\u00a0said<\/a> last Sunday that there were \u201czero reports of U.S. service member deaths or injuries in the region.\u201d But last Monday, the Pentagon\u2019s official toll<\/a> of injuries and deaths in the war quietly climbed upward.<\/p>\n After ignoring numerous requests<\/a> for clarification, an official from Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs intimated the fatality added last week was Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards, the commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 5 who went missing almost two weeks prior, following his \u201chelicopter\u2019s emergency landing<\/a> in the Arabian Sea.\u201d But that official refused to confirm it.<\/p>\n\n