The Incirlik air base in Turkey, used by the US-led coalition for air strikes against the ISIL group, has power again for the first time since last week’s coup attempt, the US military said Friday.

Turkish authorities cut electricity to the huge base on Saturday, suspecting that Turkish putschists used it to resupply war planes for the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Since the power cut, US forces at Incirlik used back-up generators so they could continue aerial strikes against ISIL targets in neighboring Syria.

“We will retain this capability should the power be interrupted again,” the US command in Europe said in a statement.

In the meantime “there is a steady flow of hot food, water and fuel to support our service members and civilians in Turkey.”

The US military has deployed drones, Prowler electronic warplanes and A-10 ground attack aircraft, as well as 1,500 military personnel, to Incirlik to strike at ISIL targets.

Washington has condemned the attempted coup in Turkey but has also carefully criticized the sweeping measures taken by authorities in cracking down on suspected coup plotters.

Source: AFP