Pentagon likely to reveal real troop numbers in Syria

In a major disclosure, the Pentagon is likely to announce that there are 2000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria, rather than the 500.

Two U.S. officials detailed the new figure, as the military acknowledges that an accounting system has under-reported the size of forces on the Syrian ground, reported the Guardian.

The number reflects a more accurate count as the official troop count in Syria currently given by the U.S. military is around 500.

The U.S. military has mostly been supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces group of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting Islamic State in the north of the country.

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

The actual number in Iraq was not expected to be announced because of "host nation sensitivities."

But the numbers do not reflect the extent of the US commitment on the ground.

The U.S. defense secretary, Jim Mattis, has expressed frustration with the FML method of counting US troops in conflict zones, the report said.