Since the United States and Israel launched their attacks on Iran on February 28, at least 2,000 people have been killed in the Middle East. The conflict has quickly spread to other countries in the region, including the Gulf states, where US military bases are located, as well as Lebanon. This is according to data compiled by Reuters. The agency noted that the figures could not be independently verified.
Iran itself reports the highest number of casualties. State media reported at least 1,270 deaths on Monday, while the Iranian ambassador to the UN said on March 6 that at least 1,332 people have died since the start of the war. The discrepancy between these figures has not been explained. It is also unclear whether the figures include the at least 104 people who, according to the Iranian military, were killed in a US attack on an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.
Lebanon has also suffered heavy losses, with Israeli attacks claiming the lives of at least 850 people, according to local authorities, which has not yet been corroborated. The World Health Organisation reported that at least 98 children were among the victims.
In Iraq, at least 30 people were killed, according to health authorities, most of them members of the Shiite Popular Mobilisation Forces. One foreign crew member was also killed in an attack on tankers near an Iraqi port, port security officials said.
Israel reports 12 casualties. Nine of them were killed in an Iranian missile attack on the town of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on March 1. The Israeli military also announced that two of its soldiers were killed during fighting in southern Lebanon.
The United States confirmed the deaths of 13 soldiers. Six were killed when a US military refuelling aircraft crashed over Iraq, and another seven during combat operations against Iran.
Casualties have also been reported by Gulf states. In the United Arab Emirates, six people were killed in Iranian attacks. In Kuwait, authorities have also recorded six deaths, including two civilians, two interior ministry personnel and two soldiers.
In Syria, four people were killed after an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern city of Suwayda on February 28, according to the state news agency SANA.
Three people were killed in Oman. Two died in a drone attack on an industrial zone in the province of Sohar and one when a tanker was struck by a projectile off the coast of Muscat. These are the first casualties in the country, which is hosting mediation talks between Washington and Tehran.
Saudi Arabia reports two casualties after a projectile struck a residential neighbourhood in the city of Al-Kharj, southeast of Riyadh. In Bahrain, two people were killed in two separate Iranian attacks, the latest of which struck a residential building in the capital, Manama.
Western countries involved in operations in the region have also suffered losses. France announced that one French soldier was killed and six others were wounded in a drone attack in northern Iraq. French soldiers were providing counter-terrorism training there.
(reuters, pir)