British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside France's air force in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory used by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, located using intelligence, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of access tunnels down to the facility... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned safely, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established extremist governance over large swathes of Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation shows the UK's leading role, and commitment to work closely with our partners, to eliminate any resurgence of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," Britain's Defence Chief the Defence Secretary remarked.
British military aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of IS subsequent to its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank the personnel of our armed forces who took part in this operation for their skill and their bravery," he said. "They were among a great many UK service members stationed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to remove militants who pose a risk to our way of life, demonstrates how our armed forces are ready to step up, throughout the year, ensuring Britain's security at home and influential overseas."
In December, the US military executed what it described as a "major assault" on Islamic State objectives in Syria, after an assault resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN reports Daesh still boasts between 5,000 and 7,000 combatants in Iraq and Syria.
