OREANDA-NEWS  The United States has recently more than doubled the number of its military in Syria, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said.

"About 2 thousand American troops are in Syria," he said at a briefing at the US Department of Defense.

Previously, it was reported about the deployment of about 900 American troops in Syria.

According to Ryder, the increase "has been going on for a while" and these military personnel have been there "for at least a few months."

He stressed that the additional forces support the mission to combat ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) and are not related to the latest events in Syria.

A Pentagon spokesman explained that "the main 900 " US military personnel are in the country as part of an official business trip for 9-12 months, another 1,100 military personnel are on a temporary basis, for 30-90 days, "to meet the changing needs of the mission." At the same time, most of the additional military are represented by special forces.

When asked why the Defense Ministry had not previously disclosed the updated figures, Ryder replied that he only learned about them on Thursday and referred to "sensitivity from the point of view of diplomatic and operational security."