British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have joined forces with French aircraft in a joint strike against an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory used by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the British defence ministry.
The facility, located using surveillance, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the statement said, and was situated in mountains just above the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a several access tunnels down to the site... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the attack on Saturday evening and all the aircraft made a safe return, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - also known as the so-called Islamic State - imposed extremist governance over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike demonstrates the UK's leading role, and commitment to work closely with allied nations, to stamp out any resurgence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
UK warplanes have performed overwatch operations over Syria to "forestall any attempted comeback" of Islamic State following its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this strike for their skill and their courage," Healey commented. "Including them were a great many British personnel on duty over the holidays. This mission, to remove militants who pose a risk to our safety, demonstrates how our armed forces are ready to step up, all year round, ensuring Britain's security domestically and powerful internationally."
During December, the United States armed forces conducted what it called a "massive strike" against IS targets in Syria, following an attack killed two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The United Nations reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Iraq and Syria.
