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Officials Say Pentagon Likely to Acknowledge 2,000 US Troops in Syria


In this Nov. 8, 2017 photo, U.S. Marines are stationed in al-Asad air base in Anbar, Iraq. The U.S.-led coalition's outpost in the fight against the Islamic State is in the corner of western Iraq near the border with Syria where American Marines operate close to the battlefront.
In this Nov. 8, 2017 photo, U.S. Marines are stationed in al-Asad air base in Anbar, Iraq. The U.S.-led coalition's outpost in the fight against the Islamic State is in the corner of western Iraq near the border with Syria where American Marines operate close to the battlefront.

The Pentagon is likely to announce in the coming days that there are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, two U.S. officials said on Friday, as the military acknowledges that an accounting system for troops has under-reported the size of forces on the ground.

The U.S. military had earlier publicly said it had around 500 troops in Syria, mostly supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces group of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting Islamic State in the north of the country.

Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon could, as early as Monday, publicly announce that there are slightly more than 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria. They said there was always a possibility that last-minute changes in schedules could delay an announcement. That is not an increase in troop numbers, just a more accurate count, as the numbers often fluctuate.

Commanders find work-around

An accounting system, known as the Force Management Level (FML), was introduced in Iraq and Syria during former President Barack Obama's administration as a way to exert control over the military.

But the numbers do not reflect the extent of the U.S. commitment on the ground since commanders often found ways to work around the limits — sometimes bringing in forces temporarily or hiring more contractors.

The force management levels are officially at 5,262 in Iraq and 503 in Syria, but officials have privately acknowledged in the past that the real number for each country is more than the reported figure.

The Pentagon said last December that it would increase the number of authorized troops in Syria to 500, but it is not clear how long the actual number has been at around 2,000.

Special forces

Obama periodically raised FML limits to allow more troops in Iraq and Syria as the fight against Islamic State advanced. As that campaign winds down, it is unclear how many, if any, U.S. troops will remain in Syria.

Most of them are special operations forces, working to train and advise local partner forces, including providing artillery support against Islamic State militants.

One of the officials said that the actual number in Iraq is not expected to be announced because of "host nation sensitivities," referring to political sensitivities about U.S. forces in Iraq.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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