British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a combined operation on an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory employed by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the UK's MoD.
The location, identified by intelligence, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed Paveway IV guided bombs to target a series of access tunnels down to the depot... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the attack on Saturday evening and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
The Islamic State group - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established militant control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike demonstrates the UK's leading role, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eliminate any re-emergence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "deter any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State following its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to every member of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their valour," he said. "They were part of thousands of UK service members stationed over the festive period. This mission, to remove dangerous terrorists who endanger our safety, highlights how UK forces are ready to step up, continuously, keeping Britain secure at home and powerful internationally."
In December, the United States armed forces carried out what it termed a "large-scale strike" on Daesh sites in Syria, subsequent to an assault resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The United Nations estimates IS still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
