Turkey has sent another group of its troops to Qatar, the Qatari Defense Minister announced on Wednesday as quoted by Turkey’s Daily Sabah news outlet.

The troops that arrived at Al Udeid Air Base in southern Doha the day before, will join another group of Turkish soldiers, which were previously stationed at the Tariq bin Ziyad military base in Qatar.

The deployment comes as part of the 2014 deal between Doha and Ankara, with Turkey establishing its military base in the Gulf country at the request of the Qatari government. Two years later, the countries signed a deal that stipulated the deployment of Turkish troops to Qatar.

The first group of Turkish soldiers arrived in Qatar this June and held their first drills at the Tariq bin Ziyad military base in August.

The Ministry noted that with the new groups of soldiers, the countries would have more military drills aimed at strengthening their defense capabilities.