British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French aircraft in a combined operation against an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the British defence ministry.
The facility, located using reconnaissance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets used laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a number of approach shafts leading to the depot... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the strike conducted Saturday night and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced militant control over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This operation demonstrates our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eliminate any revival of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have performed patrols over Syria to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank all the members of our armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their bravery," Healey said. "They were part of a great many British troops deployed over the festive period. This action, to remove dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, highlights how our armed forces are always on standby, continuously, ensuring Britain's security domestically and influential overseas."
In December, the United States armed forces carried out what it called a "major assault" targeting Islamic State objectives in Syria, subsequent to an ambush killed two US troops and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports IS still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
