More than U.S. troops have died in state of war zones this year than in 2016 — the first time in six years that the number of service members killed overseas has increased over the previous year — and some arraign President Donald Trump's decision to increase American war machine presence in multiple theaters.

In full, 31 service members take died in action overseas so far this twelvemonth, up from 26 in all of 2016, according to government data. This does not include the 17 sailors who died in body of water accidents this year, Military Times reports.

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The U.Southward. now has roughly 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. Getty Images

Is Trump to blame?

The president has doubled the number of U.Due south. troops in Somalia this yr, bringing the full to roughly 500. In May, a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed in the African land during a raid on an Al-Shabab chemical compound, which marked the first U.S. combat death in Somalia since the infamous "Black Hawk Down" incident in 1993, when 18 U.S. service members were killed.

Perhaps the most high-profile U.S. combat deaths occurred in Niger on Oct 4, when four U.Due south. special forces soldiers were killed after beingness ambushed by militants believed to exist linked to ISIS. Many questions remain surrounding the ambush and an investigation is ongoing. Trump caused quite a controversy regarding his overall response to this mortiferous incident and was accused of being insensitive.

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Members of the U.S. military machine condolement each other as they attend the burying service for U.Southward. Regular army Sgt. La David Johnson at the Memorial Gardens East cemetery on October 21, 2017 in Hollywood, Florida. Sgt. Johnson and iii other American soldiers were killed in an deadfall in Niger on Oct. 4. Getty Images

Meanwhile, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has reached roughly 14,000 after Trump canonical an increase of several thousands back in August. Over a dozen U.South. troops accept been killed in Transitional islamic state of afghanistan in 2017 thus far. That is, of course, nowhere near the high of over one,000 U.Southward. combat deaths in 2007, at the tiptop of the wars in Republic of iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.South. armed services continues to remain active across the Center East, highlighted by the fact the first U.Southward. combat death in Trump'due south presidency occurred when a Navy SEAL was killed during a raid in Yemen dorsum in January. Over the class of 2017, Trump has increased America's presence in Republic of iraq and Syrian arab republic significantly, government data shows. From June 2017 to September 2017, for example, the U.S. military'south presence in Iraq jumped from half-dozen,137 to 7,402. During the aforementioned period in Syria, the total number jumped from ane,103 to 1,547.