Americans wounded in Iraq nears 7,000

updated 10:29 a.m. ET Sept. 1, 2004

WASHINGTON - The number of American troops wounded in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 is approaching 7,000, according to figures published Tuesday by the Pentagon. The death toll for U.S. military personnel is 975, plus three Defense Department civilians.

The wounded total has approximately doubled since mid-April, when casualties and deaths mounted rapidly as the insurgency intensified. The death toll over that period has grown by about 300.

The Pentagon, which generally updates its casualty count each week, said the number of wounded stands at 6,916, up 226 from a week earlier. In the two months since the United States handed over political sovereignty to an interim Iraq government, the wounded total has grown by about 1,500.

The vast majority of casualties have been Marines and Army soldiers, although the Pentagon announced on Tuesday the 13th member of the Air Force to die in Iraq. Airman 1st Class Carl L. Anderson Jr., 21, of Georgetown, S.C., was killed by a roadside bomb on Sunday near the northern city of Mosul. He was assigned to the 3rd Logistics Readiness Squadron based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

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