Pentagon Denies Deliberately Deleting Data on Soldier's Death

JAKARTA - US Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell has denied media reports that the number of US soldiers killed on the Pentagon website has been reduced for reasons other than temporary data disruptions.

On Thursday (23/7), The New York Times reported that the number of US soldiers killed listed on the Pentagon website suddenly dropped from 18 to 14.

According to the newspaper, one possible reason is that the administration of US President Donald Trump removed the names of four soldiers who died last weekend because their deaths occurred after Trump announced a ceasefire in the conflict with Iran last April.

"This is one of the worst examples of the fake news media industry, which makes up lies for no reason at all, except to create concern among the American people. Our Pentagon Press Office has contacted The New York Times by phone, unofficially, to explain in detail, the error on the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) website caused by a temporary data interruption," Parnell wrote on the X platform as reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, Friday, July 24.

The Pentagon is working with the US military to resolve the issue.

Since July 8, the US military has launched a number of attacks on Iran, with Trump stating that the ceasefire is no longer in effect.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the attacks were a response to Iranian actions against commercial vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian military also retaliated by launching attacks on a number of US bases in several countries in the Middle East. Iran also accused the United States of violating the ceasefire.