WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Department of Defense has announced that it currently has about 2,000 troops stationed in Syria, after long insisting that only around 500 soldiers were deployed in the country. The personnel belong mainly to special operations forces, CNN has reported, citing Pentagon officials.
When contacted by Sputnik and asked to confirm the report, a Pentagon official said, "We have nothing to add."
However, the confusion about the actual US military presence in the country still exists, as even US DoD officials emphasize the incompleteness of the recent report because it does not list soldiers who are on short term missions on the ground or are about to leave the country, US media said.
In addition, the Pentagon is also concerned about unveiling the precise data of its present forces in Iraq, as the US military command believes that the public disclosure will likely put imminent pressure on the country's government.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 members has been conducting airstrikes, and ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire against the Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq since 2014.
