British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French aircraft in a coordinated attack targeting an underground arms cache in Syrian territory used by the IS group, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, pinpointed through surveillance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was situated in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes employed Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of approach shafts down to the site... preliminary assessments suggest the target was engaged successfully," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian impact in the operation conducted Saturday night and every plane involved made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - referred to as ISIS - enforced militant control over significant areas in Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike shows our UK leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary said.
UK warplanes have performed overwatch operations over Syria to "prevent any attempted comeback" of the group subsequent to its routing at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the ministry said.
"I must thank every member of our armed forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their bravery," he commented. "Including them were thousands of British troops stationed over the holidays. This action, to remove militants who threaten our security, demonstrates how British military are always on standby, all year round, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
During December, the American forces executed what it termed a "large-scale strike" on Daesh sites in Syria, after an assault resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN estimates Islamic State still boasts between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in both countries.
