The US government maintains that the recent increase in troop numbers in Syria was coincidental, unrelated to the Syrian government’s collapse.
The United States has acknowledged a significant increase in its military presence in Syria, revising its previously reported figure of approximately 900 troops to roughly 2,000. A Pentagon spokesperson stated that this higher number was only recently discovered.
For years, the Pentagon consistently reported around 900 US troops in Syria, a figure repeated even after President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster on December 8th.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced the updated troop count during a Thursday press conference, attributing the delayed disclosure to diplomatic and operational security concerns.
Ryder explained that the additional personnel had been deployed rotationally for “at minimum, months,” characterizing this deployment as an ongoing process.
He emphasized that the troop increase was unconnected to recent events in Syria, describing the timing as purely coincidental.
Ryder clarified that the extra troops are temporary rotational forces deployed to meet changing mission needs, distinct from the core 900 personnel serving longer-term deployments.
US military involvement in Syria dates back to 2014, ostensibly to combat ISIS. This involvement has included numerous airstrikes against various militant groups and, at times, Syrian government forces.
Under President Obama, the US provided hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons to anti-Assad rebel factions, an effort that later faltered due to Russian and Iranian military intervention.
In 2019, President Trump initially ordered a troop withdrawal, a decision that was later reversed, with Trump stating, “We’re keeping the oil… We left troops behind only for the oil.”
Since then, approximately 900 US troops have remained in Syria, stationed at various bases. Syrian officials have repeatedly accused the Pentagon of illicitly seizing Syrian oil reserves from northeastern provinces where US forces are deployed alongside Kurdish militia groups.
Earlier this month, Syrian opposition forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists, launched a successful offensive, seizing Damascus and forcing Assad’s resignation and subsequent asylum in Russia.
On Friday, a US delegation visited Damascus for the first time since 2012, and Washington announced the revocation of a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader.