The Pentagon is expected to reveal that about 2,000 U.S. troops are based in Syria on an ongoing basis, according to multiple reports.
Officially, there are 503 U.S. troops in Syria, though the true number was widely suspected to be higher.
CNN and Reuters independently reported the anticipated disclosure on Friday afternoon. Reuters reported the accurate figure may come out on Monday.
A Pentagon spokeswoman would not confirm the reporting, telling the Washington Examiner, “we don’t have any announcements at this time, but when we do, we’ll certainly announce them.”
The disclosure’s timing reportedly is motivated by the Islamic State’s imminent defeat in its remaining pockets in Syria and Iraq.
Last month, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces alliance liberated the Islamic State’s de facto capital city, Raqqa.
U.S. troops are embedded with the SDF, the largest component of which is the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
In July, Turkish state media reported U.S. troops were embedded alongside the YPG at 10 bases in northern Syria, providing a map and the approximate troop levels at some locations.
News of the anticipated troop-level disclosure comes after a Friday call between President Trump and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who opposes the YPG because he believes it’s a terrorist group with links to Turkish insurgents.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who sat in on the call, claimed Trump said he would end the supply of U.S. weapons to the YPG. The White House has not yet commented on that claim.
The U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State group was not specifically authorized by Congress, and critics say the war effort — particularly in Syria — violates the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was passed in response to President Nixon’s secret expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. It’s unclear how many lawmakers knew the accurate Syria troop figures.
