Wallace White, Daily Caller News Foundation | December 19, 2024
Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said there were 2,000 troops in Syria, as opposed to the 900 previously reported for months, according to a Thursday press conference.
Ryder said that the 1,100 additional troops were “temporary rotational forces,” and claimed that he had been unaware of the information up until that point. The news comes after the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by Islamic fundamentalist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which plunged the region into uncertainty as various rebel groups, including those supported militarily by the U.S., vie for control.
“I don’t have a specific date to provide … but my understanding is it’s been for a while, so clearly, before the fall of the Assad regime,” Ryder said during the press conference.
Ryder said all the forces deployed were allocated to the Defeat ISIS mission, with the 900 soldiers initially reported being long-term deployments.
The U.S. operates military bases in Syria to counteract ISIS, most frequently collaborating with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). ISIS has drastically diminished in presence in the region since their height of power, but recent tensions between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the SDF could potentially jeopardize the detainment of 9,000 ISIS soldiers held by the SDF.
Trump stated in a post on Truth Social Dec. 7 that he wants the U.S. to stay uninvolved in Syria, saying there was not much to gain for the U.S. in direct involvement. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a visit to Jordan Dec. 14 to head negotiations between the U.S. and HTS, according to NPR.
The State Department said Tuesday a ceasefire between the SNA and the SDF was to stretch to the end of this week, however the Turkish defense ministry said Thursday there was no talk on a ceasefire deal between the groups, according to Reuters.
The Pentagon deferred to the press conference, and did not provide additional comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Wallace White is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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