• Politics
  • Military

March Was First Month Without U.S. Fatalities in Iraq or Afghanistan In 11 Years

1 minute read
Soldiers with the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division patrol on the edge of a village outside of Forward Operating Base Shank on March 29, 2014 near Pul-e Alam, Afghanistan.
Soldiers with the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division patrol on the edge of a village outside of Forward Operating Base Shank on March 29, 2014 near Pul-e Alam, Afghanistan.Scott Olson—Getty Images
By Mark Thompson

For the first month since February, 2003, no U.S. troops died in Afghanistan or Iraq last month. That’s 133 months, more than a decade.

U.S. deaths, by month, in Afghanistan.iCasualties.org

According to these charts from iCasualties.org, the best and speediest accounting of U.S. war dead, U.S. deaths in the Iraq war peaked in Nov. 2004, when 137 troops were killed. The peak in Afghanistan was Aug. 2011, when 65 died.

U.S. deaths, by month, in Iraq.iCasualties.org

The deadliest year in Iraq for U.S. troops was 2007, when 904 perished. In Afghanistan, 2010 was the grimmest, with 496 dead. A total of 4,486 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq, including in accidents and other non-hostile events. The toll in Afghanistan stands at 2,315.

The iCasualties.com charts below also make clear that U.S. allies accounted for a far greater share of the allied war dead in Afghanistan than in Iraq.

Allied deaths in Afghanistan, by nation.iCasualties.org
Allied deaths in Iraq, by nation .iCasualties.org

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com