US Army General and commander of US forces in Afghanistan John Nicholson speaking during a joint press conference in Kabul on November 20. (Photo: VCG)

Thousands more US troops are now serving in Iraq and Syria than the number that was previously acknowledged by the Pentagon, according to a quarterly report released by the Defense Manpower Data Center on November 29. 

The result is in contrast to what the Pentagon has pledged on November 27—to be as transparent as possible about how many troops are deployed overseas.

The report shows that there were 1,720 US troops in Syria, which is three times as many as the 503 troops in Syria that the US military spokesperson publicly briefed. It also found that there were 8,992 American troops in Iraq, almost 3,500 more than the 5,262 troops the US Department of Defense claimed. The report also shows that the US military had 15,298 troops in Afghanistan, but the Pentagon had previously said about 14,000 US troops were deployed in the war-torn nation.

The Pentagon's personnel agency issues quarterly reports on how many American troops are serving in individual states and overseas countries. But the numbers are sharply at odds with what the report said.

The Pentagon downplayed the numbers from the report, saying that the numbers were initial estimates based on locations, short-term deployments and the rotation of American troops in a given country. 

“The numbers are not the official deployment count,” Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman said. “There are several other things that go into those numbers, it is a snapshot in time and have to also consider that number is quarterly.” Manning also claimed that the official deployment count has not changed.

Earlier this year, the US Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered a review of the actual number of US troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria beyond the official maximum force levels authorized by the Obama Administration. 

Since then, only the troop numbers for Afghanistan have been publicly disclosed. But Manning said the Pentagon is not ready to provide updated US troop numbers for Iraq and Syria. 

“Some of that is based on operational security, some is based on agreements with partners and allies,” he said, stressing that it is still not at a point when the Pentagon can make an announcement that differs from the numbers which were previously stated.