British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced Britain is to send two more fighter jets to join in strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq, bringing the total number to eight.
Mr Cameron was speaking during an unannounced visit to the Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, where six Tornados are currently deployed.
The two additional jets are to arrive by Friday.
Speaking upon his arrival Mr Cameron said: "Less than a week into combat operations in Iraq, I wanted to come here to thank our troops for the vital work they are doing to defeat these barbaric Islamic State terrorists who threaten security not just in Iraq, Syria and the region but on the streets of Britain too."
"It is an opportunity to hear directly from them about their operations, the challenges they face and what support they need.
"They have already flown a dozen sorties and carried out strikes on four of those missions, successfully hitting eight targets and helping Iraqi forces hold territory but also push back the Islamic State too.
"We want to make sure that we can keep up this tempo in the days ahead so we will deploy a further two Tornados to Akrotiri in the next 24 hours” he added.
The RAF conducted its first strikes on Tuesday, bombing an artillery post and an armed truck used by the IS militants.
It has so far hit eight targets in five locations.
