Reuters: War Toll Surpasses 5,000 as Middle East Conflict Deepens
War deaths in the Middle East surpass 5,000 after one month of US-Israel conflict with Iran, with major civilian losses reported across Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, and Gulf states.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A month into the escalating conflict between the US-Israel alliance and the Islamic Republic of Iran, new figures reveal a deepening humanitarian crisis, with the death toll across the Middle East surpassing 5,000.
On Sunday, Reuters reported that thousands have been killed since the war began on February 28, with Iran responding through attacks on Israel, US bases, and Gulf countries, while a new front of fighting opened in Lebanon. Tens of thousands have also been wounded, many of them women and children.
According to the report, which Reuters said it could not independently verify, Iran has suffered the highest number of casualties. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), based in the United States, reported that 3,461 people have been killed since the start of the war, including 1,551 civilians and at least 236 children. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said at least 1,900 civilians have been killed and 20,000 injured in US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
In Lebanon, authorities reported approximately 1,189 deaths since March 2, including at least 124 children, following Israeli airstrikes.
In Iraq, officials confirmed that at least 100 people have been killed since the beginning of the war, including civilians, members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and soldiers. A foreign crew member was also killed in an attack targeting tankers near an Iraqi port.
In Israel, emergency services reported 19 deaths from Iranian missile attacks, while the military said four soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon. In a separate incident on March 22, Israeli forces mistakenly killed a farmer near the Lebanese border.
In the West Bank, four Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile strike.
The United States recorded 13 military fatalities. Six were confirmed dead after a military refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq, while seven others were killed during operations related to Iran. A US official also told Reuters that 12 soldiers were wounded in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, including two with serious injuries.
Across the Gulf region, additional casualties were reported. The United Arab Emirates confirmed ten deaths, including two military personnel. Qatar reported seven fatalities after a helicopter crashed over its territorial waters on March 22 during a routine mission, including four armed forces personnel, one member of the joint Qatari-Turkish forces, and two technicians.
Kuwait reported six deaths, including two individuals killed in Iranian attacks, two members of the Ministry of Interior, and two from the armed forces.
In Syria, four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the city of Sweida on February 28.
In Oman, two people were killed in a drone strike on an industrial area in Sohar on March 13, marking the first fatalities in the country, which had hosted mediation talks between the United States and Iran. Another person was previously killed after a projectile struck a tanker off the coast of Muscat.
Saudi Arabia reported two deaths after a projectile hit a residential area in Al-Kharj, southeast of Riyadh.
In Bahrain, authorities confirmed two deaths in separate Iranian attacks, including one on a residential building in Manama. The UAE Ministry of Defense also reported on March 24 that a Moroccan civilian contractor was killed in an Iranian attack on Bahrain.
France reported that one soldier was killed and six others wounded in a drone attack in northern Iraq, where they had been providing counterterrorism training.
These figures underline the widening scope of the conflict and its heavy toll on civilians and military personnel across the region.