Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French aircraft in a coordinated attack on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through intelligence, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the statement said, and was situated in hills just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our aircraft used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a series of approach shafts down to the site... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the strike conducted Saturday night and every plane involved made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - referred to as Daesh - imposed militant control over parts of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action shows British leadership, and determination to operate in unison with allied nations, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their violent and radical beliefs in the region," Britain's Defence Chief the Defence Secretary stated.
RAF aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of IS subsequent to its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank the personnel of the UK armed forces participating in this strike for their skill and their courage," he said. "They were part of thousands of British personnel deployed over the holidays. This operation, to remove dangerous terrorists who threaten our security, demonstrates how British military are always on standby, all year round, keeping Britain secure domestically and powerful internationally."
During December, the US military carried out what it termed a "massive strike" against Islamic State objectives in the country, following an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The UN reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Iraq and Syria.
