US Sends More Troops to Syria Citing Growing ‘Threats to Baseline Forces’

Last Thursday, Ryder said during a briefing that the US has approximately 2,000 military personnel in Syria, not the 900 as was previously reported. The 900 personnel are baseline troops, whereas 1,100 military personnel were deployed as temporary enablers in support of force protection, transportation, maintenance, or other emerging operational requirements, according to the Pentagon.

"The numbers of these additional temporary forces have fluctuated over the past several years based on mission needs but in general have increased over time as the threat has increased to baseline forces," Ryder said in a statement on Monday.

Syria's armed opposition captured Damascus on December 8. Syrian President Bashar Assad stepped down and left for Russia, where he was granted asylum. Mohammed al-Bashir, who ran an Idlib-based administration formed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other opposition groups, was named interim prime minister on December 10. He later announced that an interim government had been formed and would remain in place until March 2025.