Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French aircraft in a coordinated attack targeting an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the British defence ministry.
The location, identified by intelligence, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the statement said, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our aircraft employed Paveway IV guided bombs to target a series of access tunnels leading to the site... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the strike late on Saturday and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
Daesh - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced jihadist rule over significant areas in Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This action demonstrates British leadership, and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to stamp out any re-emergence of Daesh and their violent and radical beliefs in the region," Britain's Defence Chief the minister stated.
British military aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of Islamic State subsequent to its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank the personnel of our armed forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," he commented. "Including them were a great many British personnel deployed over the festive period. This mission, to eliminate terrorist threats who endanger our safety, demonstrates how UK forces are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."
Last December, the American forces executed what it called a "massive strike" targeting Daesh sites in the country, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two US troops and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates Islamic State still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
