Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is refuting a Wall Street Journal report that the US military was developing plans to keep up to 1,000 troops in Syria, calling it "factually incorrect."

In an unusual move, Dunford confirmed that the US and Turkey have conducted detailed military planning and agreed to an "initial concept" regarding some type of security arrangement along the Syrian-Turkish border.

The White House said last month that a "small peace keeping group of about 200" would remain in Syria, but Defense Department officials have cautioned that the 200 number was too definitive for this stabilization mission. The plan was for a separate force of about 200 troops to be stationed at the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria. US military commanders were aware that while Trump has allowed some troops to stay in Syria, he has not given up on the idea of eventually pulling them all out.

The commander of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic forces told reporters last month that he wanted US forces to remain inside of Syria, asking for the US and its coalition partners to keep up to 1,500 troops there.

Sources have told CNN the US military has continued to develop draw down options for both Syria and Afghanistan depending on what the President may order in the future.

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