The United States has more than doubled the number of forces in Syria before the overthrow of longtime dictator Bashar Assad, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The U.S. previously said 900 troops were in Syria, but Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, announced that 2,000 were there and had been for a while.
The Pentagon had been asked repeatedly in recent days and weeks about the U.S. presence in Syria and never disclosed the dramatic increase.
Ryder said he did not know how long the number had been 2,000, but it was probably months at a minimum and pre-dated the ouster of 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," he said.
Ryder said that the additional troops are considered temporary forces.
Until Thursday, the Pentagon had insisted there had been no change to the U.S. force numbers in Syria, even as questions arose as to whether the new instability there has put the U.S. mission in jeopardy.
It had said publicly for several years that it had 900 troops in Syria who it says were working to prevent a resurgence of Deash, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.
Anti-regime forces overthrew Assad almost two weeks ago as they seized the capital Damascus unopposed after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia.
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.
Trump tried to withdraw forces from Syria during his first term, which drove former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign in protest. He has said he does not support U.S. forces getting more involved in Syria.
Türkiye has for years criticized the U.S. for backing the YPG terrorist group in northern Syria, which it supports under the pretext that it helps fight against Deash.
For Türkiye, the YPG is an extension of the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. itself and European Union.
The U.S. regularly provides military support to the YPG, which is now cornered in northeastern Syria.
In the days since the fall of Assad, the PKK/YPG was driven by Syrian opposition forces from Tal Rifaat and Manbij, key towns it occupied amid lawlessness in the war-torn country.
Türkiye believes that forces of the Syrian National Army, which it backs, will liberate PKK/YPG-controlled areas, officials said Thursday.
Since 2016, Türkiye mounted four military operations in northern Syria, citing national security threats. It has thousands of troops in the region to push back PKK/YPG terrorists from its borders.