"Total comes to about 1,000" troops, up from about 250 personnel that have been in place for months, a US defense official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Roughly 700 troops that had deployed to Jordan for a major joint exercise will remain on the ground, the official said. Another unit was also in place performing some training, said the official, without providing details.

The Pentagon on Saturday announced that F-16 fighter jets and a Patriot missile battery would stay in Jordan after having been sent there for the Eager Lion military exercise.

American forces stay in Syria’s neighbor after US president Barack Obama announced that he has authorized arming militants in Syria to topple the government.

A new report by The Los Angeles Times on Friday revealed that the CIA has been secretly training militants to fight in Syria.
Russia has repeatedly warned US and its allies on consequences of providing military support to the anti-government forces in Syria which are mainly from terrorist and extremist groups.
During a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said "If the United States ... recognizes one of the key Syrian opposition organizations, al-Nusra, as terrorist ... how can one deliver arms to those opposition members? Where will they end up? What role will they play? "