British Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a combined operation against an underground arms cache in Syria operated by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, located using reconnaissance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was situated in hills just above Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a series of entry passages down to the facility... early reports suggest the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the attack conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - imposed jihadist rule over significant areas in Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action shows our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their violent and radical beliefs in the region," the British Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
British military aircraft have carried out overwatch operations over Syria to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of the group after its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank the personnel of our armed forces who took part in this strike for their professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "Including them were numerous UK service members on duty over Christmas and New Year. This action, to take out terrorist threats who endanger our security, shows how our armed forces are always on standby, all year round, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
During December, the US military executed what it described as a "large-scale strike" on Daesh sites in the country, after an assault killed two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. says Daesh still has between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
