A detailed investigation by The Intercept says the real human cost of the US war posture in the Middle East is far greater than the Pentagon has publicly admitted, with nearly 750 US troops wounded or killed in the region since October 2023.

According to the report, US Central Command, or CENTCOM, has provided outdated and incomplete numbers while refusing to clarify basic information about deaths, injuries, and the scale of attacks on American facilities. The Intercept says this has led to what one defense official described as a “casualty cover-up.”

The report states that at least 15 US troops were wounded on Friday alone in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. More broadly, it says hundreds of US personnel have been killed or injured since Washington launched its war on Iran just over a month ago. Yet CENTCOM’s public figures remain significantly lower.

The Intercept notes that CENTCOM sent a statement saying: “Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 303 U.S. service members have been wounded.” But that figure was already three days old when provided and, according to the report, excluded at least 15 troops wounded in the Friday attack. CENTCOM did not respond to repeated requests for updated numbers.

The command also refused to provide an official count of those killed in the region since the war began. The Intercept’s own analysis places the number of dead at “no less than 15.”

One defense official, speaking anonymously, told the outlet: “This is, quite obviously, a subject that (US War Secretary Pete) Hegseth and the White House want to keep under major wraps.”

A War Expanding in Cost and Secrecy

The Intercept contrasts the Trump administration’s opacity with the level of detail that had previously been provided by the Pentagon. In 2024, it notes, the Defense Department gave the outlet detailed chronologies of attacks on US bases, specifying the outpost struck, the type of attack, and whether casualties occurred.

Under the current administration, that transparency appears to have disappeared. The report says current CENTCOM figures “lack detail and clarity” and may not even include more than 200 sailors treated for smoke inhalation or otherwise injured after a major fire aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford before the carrier withdrew to Souda Bay, Greece, for repairs.

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, told The Intercept: “CENTCOM and the White House should be providing accurate and timely information on the costs and casualties involved in this war. After all, it is American taxpayers who are funding it and U.S. economic prosperity and economic wellbeing that is being undermined by it.”

The report presents that lack of transparency as politically significant, especially as the war continues to expand while the administration sends mixed messages about its aims and duration.

President Donald Trump, after attending the transfer of the first Americans killed in the war, defended the losses in stark terms. “When you have conflicts like this, you always have death,” he said. He added: “I met the parents and they were unbelievable people. They were unbelievable people, but they all had one thing in common. They said to me, one thing, every single one: Finish the job, sir. Please finish the job.”

At the same time, Trump has suggested the war could end in “two weeks, maybe three,” despite the fact that several of his own stated aims have not been achieved.

Bases Across the Region Under Attack

The Intercept says CENTCOM has even refused to provide a simple count of how many US bases have been attacked during the war. When asked, a spokesperson replied: “We have nothing for you.”

The outlet’s own analysis found that bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates have all been targeted.

As the US has continued bombing Iran, Tehran has retaliated with ballistic missiles and drones aimed at American facilities throughout the region.

On Tuesday, Hegseth acknowledged that Iran still retained the ability to retaliate but downplayed the threat, saying: “Yes, they will still shoot some missiles, but we will shoot them down.”

But the report indicates the reality on the ground is much more serious. On Wednesday morning alone, officials in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar all reported missile or drone attacks from Iran.

The report says those attacks have forced US personnel to abandon normal base life in many locations. According to two government officials cited by The Intercept, American troops have retreated from bases into hotels and office buildings across the region.

That relocation has become one of the most striking findings of the report, because it suggests that in parts of the region, fixed US military infrastructure is no longer considered adequately safe for housing or operating large numbers of troops.

Troops Pushed Into Hotels and Offices

The Intercept says US troops are now being housed and working in civilian sites because military bases have become too exposed. Iranian strikes, according to the report, have not only wounded and killed personnel but forced a major operational dispersal.

The anger inside parts of the defense establishment is evident in comments from one anonymous official, who sharply criticized the Pentagon’s planning and Hegseth’s public religiosity. Referring to Hegseth’s prayer at a Pentagon press conference, the official said: “Why didn’t Hegseth protect them? Anyone with a brain knew these attacks were coming.”

The report says this relocation has carried risks beyond military inconvenience. In public statements, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi accused the US of using civilians in Gulf states as shields. He wrote on X: “U.S. soldiers fled military bases in GCC to hide in hotels and offices. Hotels in U.S. deny bookings to officers who may endanger customers. GCC hotels should do same.”

Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, a former head of CENTCOM, told The Intercept that using hotels and offices as fallback infrastructure raises grave concerns. He said it “could turn normal civilian infrastructure into military targets for the regime.”

The report notes that this has already happened. Last month, an Iranian drone strike on a hotel in Bahrain wounded two War Department employees, according to a State Department cable reviewed by The Washington Post. CENTCOM did not confirm the details to The Intercept, but one official indicated that was likely the case.

Officials Say the Vulnerability Was Predictable

One of the most damaging aspects of the report is the suggestion that none of this should have come as a surprise.

Votel said that US forces in the region have faced drone attacks for at least a decade. He recalled that during the campaign against ISIS in 2016, the need for stronger protection was already evident. “At that time we identified a need to protect against this threat, and it has taken far too long for the DoD to respond and provide adequate protection for our deployed troops,” he said.

He added: “It was a known expectation that, if attacked, Iran would retaliate against our bases, installations, and forces, and I agree that we should have anticipated and been prepared for this inevitability.”

Kavanagh made a similar argument, telling The Intercept: “It has been clear for years that the rapid proliferation of drones and cheap missiles would put U.S. bases and U.S. early detection radars in the region at risk, yet the Pentagon did little to protect them.”

She continued: “The failure to invest in hardened infrastructure was a choice. Congress should see this failure as evidence that simply giving the Pentagon more money is not a path to national security.”

Her conclusion was even more sweeping: “We would be better off if bases across the region were closed for good.”

The Report’s Casualty Breakdown

The Intercept says that at least 15 US troops have died since the beginning of the Iran war. Those include six personnel killed in a drone strike on Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, and a soldier who died due to an “enemy attack on March 1, 2026, at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.”

More than 520 US personnel have also been injured, the report says, including those affected by smoke inhalation on the USS Gerald R. Ford.

But the article widens the lens beyond the current Iran war alone. Prior to this latest phase, US bases in the Middle East had already come under intensifying attack after Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023. Those strikes involved one-way attack drones, rockets, mortars, and close-range ballistic missiles.

The Intercept says at least 175 troops were killed or wounded in those pre-Iran-war attacks, including three service members killed in a January 2024 strike on Tower 22 in Jordan.

It also lists a long series of bases targeted across Iraq and Syria, including al-Asad Air Base, the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, Camp Victory, Union III, Erbil Air Base, Bashur Air Base, Al-Tanf garrison, Deir ez-Zor Air Base, Mission Support Site Euphrates, Mission Support Site Green Village, Patrol Base Shaddadi, Rumalyn Landing Zone, Tell Baydar, and Tal Tamir.

Taken together, those figures produce the broader total cited by the outlet: nearly 750 wounded or killed since October 2023.

Contractors Add Another Layer to the Toll

The report also stresses that even those numbers do not capture the full human cost, because they exclude contractors, most of whom are foreign nationals and many of whom have suffered non-combat injuries.

“The casualty statistics do not include contractors, most of them foreigners who suffered non-combat injuries,” according to the report.

Official US statistics cited by The Intercept show almost 12,900 cases of injuries to contractors in the CENTCOM area of operations during 2024 alone. More than 3,700 of those were classified as the most serious non-fatal injuries, including traumatic brain injuries requiring more than seven days away from work.

An additional 18 contractors were killed, all in Iraq.

The report says these numbers are likely undercounts as well. And if even a fraction of contractor casualties is added to the military toll, “the casualty count for Americans and those on U.S. bases may top 13,600.”

That broader figure dramatically expands the public understanding of the cost of sustained US military entrenchment in the region.

Command, Cohesion, and the Limits of ‘Remote War’

The report also examines what these base evacuations and dispersals mean militarily. Votel warned that moving personnel out of hardened bases and into improvised civilian spaces could hinder core military functions.

“I think this really complicates command and control and could affect unit cohesion and effectiveness,” he said.

At the same time, he acknowledged the bind US forces now face: “That said, we may not have many options if we cannot protect the military bases where they would normally be bedded down.”

That assessment echoes a wider concern running through the article: the US is trying to continue high-intensity operations while the infrastructure meant to sustain them is becoming increasingly exposed, fragmented, and in some cases unusable.