Pentagon Pushes Back on U.S. Casualty Rate in Afghanistan

The number of U.S. deaths in Afghanistan has not reached 1,000 yet, the Pentagon said Tuesday, refuting news reports quoting a Web site that keeps track of casualties in U.S.-led wars.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters Tuesday that 916 American service members have died in and around Afghanistan since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001. That number includes deaths in Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

By the Defense Department's count, 994 American service members overall have died as a result of OEF's mission, which also includes operations in Guantanamo Bay, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Yemen.

On Tuesday icasualties.org marked the grim milestone, noting that 54 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan so far this year, compared with a toll of 316 last year -- the worst since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001. The 2009 death toll of 316 was double the figure of 2008.

The government's tally tends to lag behind the icasualties.org Web site as the Pentagon does not officially record a death until 24 hours after next of kin are notified.

On Monday, the top-ranking U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, warned of more casualties as U.S.-led forces press an offensive in Marjah, a key Taliban stronghold, where foreign troops have faced strong militant resistance.

"We must steel ourselves, no matter how successful we are on any given day, for harder days yet to come," he told reporters.

The volatile southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand -- where U.S., NATO and Afghan forces now are battling the Taliban in Marjah -- account for the highest number of U.S. and coalition casualties.

The Defense Department announced the latest American service member killed in the war as Cpl. Gregory Stultz, 22, who died Feb. 19 from small arms fire in Helmand province.

Other members of the international force in Afghanistan, which have smaller contingents than the Americans, have also suffered higher casualties over the past year.

The death toll for British forces in the war now totals 264, while Canada has lost 140 service members and France 40.

Opponents of the Afghan war said they planned to mark the death toll reaching 1,000 with a vigil in New York City.

In the Iraq war, 4,378 American service members have been killed since the 2003 invasion, according to icasualties.org.

U.S. casualties in Iraq have dramatically declined over the past year as violence receded and the Baghdad government took the lead for security duties.

Fox News' Justin Fishel and NewsCore contributed to this report.