Politics More US soldiers stationed in Syria than previously known
More US soldiers are currently stationed in Syria than previously known. The US Department of Defense corrected its previous figures and announced that there are currently around 2,000 American soldiers in the country. Previously, the Department had always spoken of 900 soldiers stationed in Syria - to fight the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia in the region.
19.12.2024, 21:56
SDA
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said that 900 soldiers were in Syria for a longer-term deployment of around nine to twelve months at a time. The additional forces are troops on temporary rotation, who are only there for one to three months at a time to meet any new requirements related to the IS mission.
In response to questions, Ryder explained that the higher number of American soldiers had already been in Syria "for a while", definitely since before the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. Only now, however, has the discrepancy in the numbers been noticed internally.
A rebel alliance led by the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew the long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in Syria on December 8.
