About 2,400–2,500 U.S. service members were killed in the Afghanistan War between 2001 and 2021, depending on which official or research count you use.

Quick Scoop: Key Numbers

Most reputable tallies cluster very close together, with small differences based on who is included (CIA, deaths supporting nearby operations, etc.).

  • A widely cited figure is 2,459 U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan from October 2001 to August 2021.
  • The U.S. Department of Defense, counting Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, lists about 2,465 U.S. servicemembers killed in those operations (not all deaths occurred inside Afghanistan, some were in related theaters).
  • When you exclude those who died in other regions while supporting the same operations, one breakdown gives about 2,402 U.S. servicemembers killed specifically in the Afghanistan war zone.
  • Other official and research summaries describe the war as costing “nearly 2,400” American service members’ lives, which aligns with the same range.

Beyond uniformed troops, related U.S. losses were also significant:

  • 18 CIA operatives killed in Afghanistan.
  • Roughly 3,900–3,900+ U.S. Department of Defense contractors and civilian employees killed in Afghanistan-related operations.

So, when people ask “how many US died in Afghanistan,” the most straightforward, commonly used answer is that about 2,400–2,500 U.S. service members were killed in the conflict, with several thousand additional U.S. contractors and civilians also losing their lives.

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