US fighters arrive at Turkish base to join ISIS airstrikes

The US Air Force has deployed a fleet of six F-16 fighter jets in a military base in Turkey in order to fight the ISIL terrorist group in Syria, according to the US mission to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

The brief statement said that six F-16s from Aviano and the airmen would be supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

“This follows Turkey’s decision to host the deployment of US aircraft conducting counter-ISIL operations”, the Italian airbase stated in a news release.

There are no U.S. aircraft permanently stationed at Incirlik, one of the smallest U.S. Air Forces in Europe installations in terms of personnel.

US Air Force planes previously had to take off from bases further away to reach their jihadist targets, for example from Jordan or Kuwait.

Incirlik is located close to IS strongholds across the border in Syria, allowing the U.S.to move more swiftly and nimbly against IS targets. Deny-flight missions over northern Iraq were a notable exception during Operation Northern Watch that began in 1997 and ended with the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Last week, U.S. armed drones taking off from Incirlik struck IS positions, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said an “extensive” fight against the extremists would soon begin.

Incirlik, near the Turkish city of Adana, is about 285 miles (460 kilometers) from Islamic State’s self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria.

The United States for the first time Sunday deployed half a dozen F-16 warplanes to Turkey to help operations against the Islamic State group, US officials said.