Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with France's air force in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory operated by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, located using surveillance, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was located in mountainous terrain just above Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes employed Paveway IV guided bombs to target a series of entry passages leading to the depot... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the operation conducted Saturday night and each participating jet returned safely, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - also known as Daesh - established militant control over significant areas in Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This strike demonstrates our UK leadership, and resolve to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any re-emergence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey remarked.
British military aircraft have carried out overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of Islamic State following its routing at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank every member of our armed forces who took part in this mission for their expertise and their courage," he commented. "They were among thousands of British troops stationed over the holidays. This action, to remove dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our security, highlights how our armed forces are always on standby, throughout the year, protecting the UK domestically and strong abroad."
Last December, the United States armed forces conducted what it termed a "major assault" targeting IS targets in the country, following an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The United Nations reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand militants in both countries.
