By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON -The Pentagon on Thursday stated it has 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, greater than twice the 900 it has beforehand stated it has, and that the extra troops are thought-about momentary forces that have been despatched to help the mission towards Islamic State militants.
Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder informed reporters he didn’t know the way lengthy the quantity had been 2,000, however it was most likely months at a minimal and pre-dated the autumn of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“I realized the quantity as we speak … as any person who’s been standing up right here telling you 900, I needed to get you what we had on that,” Ryder stated.
Asked by reporters how lengthy the variety of troops had been at 2,000, Ryder didn’t present a particular size of time however stated: “I believe it could most likely be truthful to say, at a minimal, months… it has been occurring for some time.”
The United States had stated publicly for a number of years that it had 900 troops in Syria who have been working with native forces to forestall a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized massive swathes of Iraq and Syria however was later pushed again.
President Joe Biden’s administration has stated that U.S. troops will likely be staying in Syria, although President-elect Donald Trump may take away them when he takes workplace on Jan. 20. During his first administration, Trump tried to take away U.S. troops from Syria however had been met with resistance from officers and in the end some troops remained.
Earlier this month, Syrian rebels toppled Assad’s authorities and seized management of the capital Damascus. The United States army has continued finishing up strikes towards Islamic State militants.
This will not be the primary time lately that the Pentagon has needed to revise the variety of troops it has in a rustic. In 2017, the U.S. army disclosed that it had 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, hundreds greater than it had beforehand disclosed.
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