British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French warplanes in a coordinated attack targeting an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was situated in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to strike a number of approach shafts leading to the facility... early reports 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 every plane involved made a safe return, the MoD added.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - also known as Daesh - established extremist governance over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation shows our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eradicate any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary John Healey remarked.
RAF aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of the group following its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in the year 2019, the MoD reported.
"I extend gratitude to all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their valour," the Defence Secretary said. "They were among thousands of British personnel on duty over the holidays. This mission, to remove dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, shows how British military are ready to step up, throughout the year, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
Last December, the United States armed forces carried out what it termed a "major assault" on IS targets in Syria, after an attack killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN estimates IS still has between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Syria and Iraq.
