British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French warplanes in a joint strike targeting an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, located using intelligence, was believed to be containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was situated in hills just above the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets used Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a series of access tunnels providing entry to the site... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the attack conducted Saturday night and every plane involved returned safely, the ministry further stated.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - alternatively referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established extremist governance over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action underscores the UK's leading role, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to eradicate any revival of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary the minister said.
UK warplanes have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of Islamic State after its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank every member of British forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their valour," he said. "They were among a great many British personnel on duty over the festive period. This operation, to eliminate militants who threaten our security, highlights how British military are ready to step up, continuously, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
In December, the United States armed forces executed what it called a "large-scale strike" targeting Islamic State objectives in Syria, subsequent to an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. reports IS still boasts between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Syria and Iraq.
