US has twice as many troops in Syria

20/12/2024 6:08

The Pentagon on Thursday

said it has 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, more than twice the 900

it has previously said it has, and that the additional troops

are considered temporary forces that were sent to support the

mission against Islamic State militants.



Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder told

reporters he did not know how long the number had been 2,000,

but it was probably months at a minimum and pre-dated the fall

of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.



"I learned the number today ... as somebody who's been

standing up here telling you 900, I wanted to get you what we

had on that," Ryder said.



The United States had said publicly for several years that

it had 900 troops in Syria who were working with local forces to

prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized

large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.



President Joe Biden's administration has said that U.S.

troops will be



staying in Syria



, though President-elect Donald Trump could remove them when

he takes office on Jan. 20.