British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with France's air force in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory operated by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was believed to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was located in mountains just above the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes used Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of access tunnels providing entry to the depot... early reports indicate the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and every plane involved made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - alternatively referred to as Daesh - established jihadist rule over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike shows British leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eliminate any revival of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syria to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of IS subsequent to its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in the year 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank the personnel of British forces who took part in this strike for their expertise and their valour," he said. "They were among a great many UK service members stationed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our safety, highlights how our armed forces are always on standby, all year round, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
During December, the United States armed forces executed what it termed a "major assault" against IS targets in the country, following an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US troops and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates IS still boasts an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 militants in Syria and Iraq.
