Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French warplanes in a combined operation on an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, pinpointed through intelligence, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was located in hills just to the north of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of entry passages leading to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian impact in the operation conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft made a safe return, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - alternatively referred to as ISIS - imposed extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This strike demonstrates British leadership, and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," the British Defence Secretary the minister said.
British military aircraft have conducted patrols over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State subsequent to its military defeat at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank the personnel of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their professionalism and their valour," Healey said. "They were among numerous UK service members on duty over Christmas and New Year. This action, to take out militants who endanger our security, shows how British military are always on standby, all year round, protecting the UK within its borders and influential overseas."
During December, the US military carried out what it described as a "major assault" targeting IS targets in the country, after an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The UN estimates Daesh still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
