Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with French aircraft in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria used by the IS group, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was located in hills just above Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a several access tunnels providing entry to the site... initial indications suggest the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the operation conducted Saturday night and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - referred to as ISIS - imposed extremist governance over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action demonstrates British leadership, and resolve to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any resurgence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary John Healey remarked.
British military aircraft have carried out overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of the group following its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank the personnel of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their skill and their courage," the Defence Secretary said. "They were part of thousands of UK service members on duty over Christmas and New Year. This action, to take out terrorist threats who threaten our way of life, shows how British military are prepared to act, throughout the year, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."
During December, the United States armed forces carried out what it described as a "massive strike" targeting IS targets in the country, subsequent to an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.
The UN reports IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Iraq and Syria.
