At least 796 US military deaths in Afghanistan region since 2001, Defense Department says

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 796

As of Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, at least 796 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

Of those, the military reports 614 were killed by hostile action.

Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 72 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, three were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

There were also four CIA officer deaths and one military civilian death.

The latest deaths reported by the military:

— A U.S. service member was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.

The latest identifications reported by the military:

— Army Sgt. Christopher M. Rudzinski, 28, Rantoul, Ill., died Friday near Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device; he was assigned to 293rd Military Police Company, 385th Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), Fort Stewart, Ga.

— Army Staff Sgt. Chris N. Staats, 32, Fredericksburg, Texas, died Friday in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device; he was assigned to the 143rd Infantry Detachment, Austin, Texas.

— Army Spc. Anthony G. Green, 28, Matthews, N.C., died Friday in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device; he was assigned to the 143rd Infantry Detachment, Austin, Texas.

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