Human Cost of Post - 9/11 Wars: Direct War Deaths in Major War Zones
Afghanistan and Pakistan (October 2001 - October 2019); Iraq (March 2003 - October 2019); Syria (September 2014 - October 2019); Yemen (October 2002 - October 2019); and Other1
Neta C. Crawford and Catherine Lutz2
Posted on November 13, 2019
HUMAN COSTS The number of people killed directly in the violence of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are approximated here. Several times as many have been killed indirectly as a result of the wars — because, for example, of water loss, sewage and other infrastructural issues, and war-related disease.
| Afghanistan | Pakistan | Iraq | Syria/ISIS3 | Yemen4 | Other5 | Total | |
| US Military6 | 2,2987 | –8 | 4,5729 | 710 | 111 | 136 | 7,014 |
| US DOD Civilian12 | 6 | 15 | 1 | – | – | 22 | |
| US Contractors13 | 3,814 | 90 | 3,588 | 1714 | 2 | 43915 | 7,950 |
| National Military and Police16 | 64,12417 | 9,12918 | 48,337-52,33719 | 51,48320 | –21 | 173,073-177,073 | |
| Other Allied Troops22 | 1,145 | – | 323 | 11,00023 | 12,468 | ||
| Civilians | 43,07424 | 23,92525 | 184,382-207,15626 | 49,59127 | 12,00028 | 312,971-335,745 | |
| Opposition Fighters | 42,10029 | 32,73730 | 34,806-39,88131 | 67,06532 | 78,00033 | 254,708-259,783 | |
| Journalists and Media Workers34 | 67 | 86 | 277 | 75 | 31 | 536 | |
| Humanitarian/NGO workers35 | 424 | 97 | 63 | 185 | 38 | 807 | |
| TOTAL | 157,052 | 66,063 | 276,363-308,212 | 179,424 | 90,072 | 575 | 769,549-801,398 |
| TOTAL (rounded to nearest 1,000) | 157,000 | 66,000 | 276,000-308,000 | 179,000 | 90,000 | 600 | 770,000-801,000 |
November 2019