At least 500,000 people have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan since the United States launched the "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a report released Thursday.
According to the report of the Watson Institute of International Relations at Brown University (Rhode Island) the death toll is between 480 and 507 thousand people, indicating that the actual number may be higher.
The university said in a statement that the new proceeds "show an increase of 110 thousand compared," with a previous result published in August 2016.
"Even if the war on terror is often neglected by the public, the press and US officials, the increase in deaths shows that this war is still severe," she said.
The report includes civilians, insurgents, police and local security forces, as well as US military and allied forces.
Iraq recorded the highest toll of civilian casualties (between 18,222 and 2,04575) followed by Afghanistan (38480) and Pakistan (23,372).
About 7,000 US troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We can never know the direct outcome of these wars," said Nita Crawford, author of the report.
"For example, tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed while the Iraqi army and its allies, Mosul and other cities that had been organized by a preacher, were in control, but the bodies have not yet been found."
The report does not include indirect victims of conflict, including those killed by diseases or lack of infrastructure.
