Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a coordinated attack against an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through intelligence, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was situated in hills just north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a several approach shafts down to the depot... early reports indicate the strike was effective," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the operation on Saturday evening and each participating jet made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - also known as the so-called Islamic State - established extremist governance over large swathes of Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike shows the UK's leading role, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary the minister remarked.
British military aircraft have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State after its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I extend gratitude to all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their skill and their courage," Healey said. "They were among numerous British personnel deployed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to take out terrorist threats who threaten our safety, demonstrates how our armed forces are ready to step up, throughout the year, protecting the UK domestically and strong abroad."
During December, the American forces carried out what it described as a "major assault" on IS targets in the country, after an assault killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. reports Islamic State still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 combatants in Syria and Iraq.
