Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez argued Thursday that the drop in casualty figures in the online system was not an effort to hide the growing human toll of the war.

The number of U.S. troops killed in the war was 18, accounting for four deaths over the weekend, but now only 14 are counted on the site.

Eighteen U.S. soldiers have been killed in strikes so far.

The Pentagon has said ‘data disruptions’ explain the discrepancy