The U.S. military is considering a deployment of up to 1,000 additional troops into northern Syria to assist in the looming offensive to retake the Islamic State's de facto capital of Raqqa, defense officials told the Washington Post on Wednesday.
The increase would double the number of American troops in Syria and requires approval from Defense Secretary James Mattis and President Donald Trump.
Though the new contingent of U.S. troops would initially serve in an advisory role to local forces, the Defense Department has considered deploying combat troops for the first time into Syria to accelerate the fight against ISIS, an unnamed defense official told CNN in February.
Trump directed Defense Secretary James Mattis in January to provide a strategy within 30 days that more aggressively attacks ISIS in Syria. Mattis submitted a broad outline to the president at the end of last month, passing the torch to Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, who is now responsible for fleshing out the details of Mattis' proposal. Votel is expected to submit his recommendations to Mattis at the end of the month.
Votel told reporters last week that he would not hesitate to request more conventional military units in Iraq if necessary.
The United States currently maintains about 500 Special Operations forces in Syria, in addition to some 250 Rangers and 200 Marines, according to the Post, though the military has not confirmed an exact number citing security reasons.
The proposed deployment would coincide with a White House directive that would abolish the formal troop cap in Iraq and Syria set in place by the Obama administration. Former President Barack Obama capped the number of troops in Syria to 500, though commanders have the authority to temporarily surpass that limit.
The additional troops, if approved by the administration, would primarily advise Kurdish and Arab fighters in northern Syria battling against ISIS.
"This would still be by, with, and through our local partners on the ground," an unnamed defense official told the Post.
The troop surge would mark a significant shift away from the Obama administration, which refused to deploy conventional ground troops into Syria, though a small number of special operations forces operate in the war-torn country.