The U.S. military says it has deployed six more fighter jets at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey for operations against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

The U.S.-European Command said in a statement the six F-15E Strike Eagle jets arrived at Incirlik on Thursday from a base in Britain.

Last week, the U.S. military also sent six F-15C air-to-air combat jets to Incirlik to help defend the Turkish airspace against potential intruders. That deployment came after two Russian warplanes, active in Syria, strayed into Turkish airspace last month, triggering strong condemnations from Turkey and its NATO allies.

The U.S. military said: “We will continue to work closely with our Turkish partners on supporting the sovereignty of Turkish airspace and our shared efforts to degrade and destroy (IS).”

(AP)