British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike on an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a several entry passages providing entry to the facility... early reports are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no indication of any harm to civilians in the strike conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - also known as ISIS - enforced militant control over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action shows our UK leadership, and determination to work closely with our partners, to eradicate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the minister stated.
RAF aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank every member of the UK armed forces who took part in this operation for their professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "They were part of numerous British personnel deployed over the holidays. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our way of life, highlights how UK forces are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and strong abroad."
During December, the American forces conducted what it termed a "major assault" on Daesh sites in the country, after an ambush resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The UN reports IS still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in both countries.
