Hundreds more US troops in Iraq than previously stated

Hundreds more US troops are serving in Iraq than the Pentagon has previously stated, an official said Wednesday in an acknowledgement underscoring the sensitivity of deployments to the war-torn nation.

AFP reports that, officially, the Pentagon has long said about 3,500 American troops are stationed in Iraq to train and equip local security forces, primarily so they can fight back against ISIS jihadists who control large parts of the country.

But the Pentagon on Wednesday quietly increased that official accounting to 3,850 troops. Then, Baghdad-based military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said it was "fair to say" there are hundreds more troops than even that number.

The troop presence is tiny compared to the height of the Iraq War, when the United States had nearly 160,000 in-country troops during the "surge."

But the Iraq War officially ended at the end of 2011 and the United States pulled its combat troops from the country.

Additionally, when President Barack Obama in 2014 launched a US-led coalition to bomb ISIS jihadists in Iraq and Syria, he said there would be no American boots on the ground.

Military officials have gotten around this pledge by insisting the US forces are not present in a combat role.