Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a coordinated attack on an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK's MoD.
The site, identified by reconnaissance, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was situated in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a number of entry passages providing entry to the site... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the operation conducted Saturday night and every plane involved made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
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 significant areas in both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike shows the UK's leading role, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to eliminate any resurgence of the terrorist group and their violent and radical beliefs in the region," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey said.
RAF aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State following its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their bravery," Healey added. "Including them were numerous UK service members stationed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to remove militants who endanger our safety, highlights how UK forces are always on standby, throughout the year, ensuring Britain's security within its borders and strong abroad."
Last December, the American forces carried out what it called a "large-scale strike" against Islamic State objectives in Syria, after an assault resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports IS still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Syria and Iraq.
