There are over a thousand more US troops in Syria than previously thought, a US general disclosed at a press conference on Thursday.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that the Pentagon recently had to double its estimate of troop numbers in the war-torn country, after telling the public there were less than a thousand personnel there.
“As you know, we have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria. In light of the situation in Syria and the significant interest, we recently learned that those numbers were higher, and so asked to look into it. I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria.”
Ryder explained that some of the forces are “temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission requirements.” Longer term forces will be in the country for nine to 12 months, while “rotational forces” will rotate in “on a 30-to-90-day basis.”
“And as you know, for many of our deployments, numbers will fluctuate from time to time,” Ryder added.
“But given that this number is significantly higher than what we’ve been briefing, I wanted to let you know as soon as I found out this information.”
Last week, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed the US is in talks with Sunni Islamist group HTS, which was largely responsible for the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, about the future of Syria. The group has until now been designated a terrorist group.
Blinken stressed the conditions for recognizing a future Syrian government. He said the political transition in Syria must be “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned and produce an inclusive and representative government.” Women and minorities must be respected, Blinken added.
He also said humanitarian aid should not be impeded, and the country “should not be used as a basis for terrorist groups or others to threaten Syrian people its neighbours and the world.” Chemical weapons stockpiles should be secured and safely destroyed.
“Our message to the Syrian people is: We want you to succeed and we are ready to help you do so,” Blinken said.