RAF Typhoon jets have operated alongside French warplanes in a joint strike on an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the UK's MoD.
The facility, identified by surveillance, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was situated in hills just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets employed Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of entry passages down to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the operation on Saturday evening and all the aircraft made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - referred to as ISIS - established extremist governance over parts of both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action shows British leadership, and commitment to work closely with our partners, to eradicate any revival of Daesh and their violent and radical beliefs in the area," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of IS subsequent to its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces who took part in this operation for their expertise and their courage," he commented. "They were part of a great many British personnel stationed over the holidays. This operation, to take out dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, demonstrates how our armed forces are always on standby, throughout the year, protecting the UK within its borders and influential overseas."
Last December, the American forces conducted what it termed a "massive strike" on Islamic State objectives in Syria, following an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. reports Islamic State still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
