how many american troops died in afghanistan

Between 2001 and the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, roughly 2,400–2,460 American service members were killed in the Afghanistan war, depending on how support operations and intelligence personnel are counted.

Quick Scoop

• A commonly cited Pentagon-style figure is “more than 2,200” American troops killed in Afghanistan.

• Detailed casualty tallies list about 2,400–2,460 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan and closely linked operations (Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel).

• Of these, around 1,900+ were killed in action (hostile deaths), with the remainder from non‑hostile causes such as accidents.

• In addition, thousands of American contractors and civilians working with the U.S. Department of Defense were killed, bringing total U.S.-linked deaths (troops + DoD contractors/civilians) to over 6,000.

Why numbers differ

Different reputable sources use slightly different inclusion criteria :

• Some count only uniformed U.S. service members who died inside Afghanistan.
• Others include deaths in nearby countries (Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc.) that were directly supporting the Afghanistan campaign.

• Some tallies add CIA operatives and DoD contractors, which raises the overall U.S. death toll further.

Because of this, you’ll see rounded public references like “more than 2,200,” alongside more precise but slightly different totals in the 2,400–2,460 range.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.