Pentagon says number of US causalities in Iraq, Syria, Jordan since Oct. 18 totals 186

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon announced Monday that the number of US casualties in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since Oct. 18 totals around 186.

"Of those 186 casualties, over 130 are currently assessed as having traumatic brain injury," Department of Defense Spokesman Pete Nguyen said in a statement.

Since the Israeli army launched intensified attacks on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 last year following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, US military bases in Syria and Iraq have been targeted with drones and rockets, particularly Al Tanf Garrison in Syria as well as bases in the city of Al-Malikiyah near the Iraqi border, the city of Al-Shaddadi in Al-Hasakah Governorate and Deir ez-Zor province.

Israel has since pounded the Gaza Strip, killing at least 28,340 people and injuring 67,984 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.