At least 954 US military deaths in Afghan region since 2001

US military deaths in Afghan region at 954

As of Friday, April 9, 2010, at least 954 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

The AP count is five more than the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

At least 743 military personnel have died in the Afghan region as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

Outside the Afghan region, the department reports at least 77 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, eight were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

The Defense Department also counts two military civilian deaths.

The latest deaths reported by the military:

— Three U.S. soldiers died when a U.S. Air Force Osprey aircraft crashed in southeastern Afghanistan late Thursday. NATO said the cause of the crash was still under investigation.

The latest identifications reported by the military:

— Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson, 20, of Rochester, Minn.; died April 2 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

— Lance Cpl. Tyler O. Griffin, 19, of Voluntown, Conn., and Sgt. Frank J. World, 25, of Buffalo, N.Y.; died April 1 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Griffin was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. World was assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

— Lt. Miroslav Zilberman, 31, of Columbus, Ohio; died after his E-2C Hawkeye crashed into the Arabian Gulf on March 31. The recovery effort was abandoned on April 2, and his body was not recovered. He was assigned to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121.

— Staff Sgt. Scott W. Brunkhorst, 25, of Fayetteville, N.C.; died March 30 in the Arghandab river valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

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