British Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with France's air force in a joint strike on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK's MoD.
The site, pinpointed through intelligence, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was situated in mountains just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets used Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a several entry passages leading to the depot... preliminary assessments are that the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the attack late on Saturday and each participating jet made a safe return, the MoD added.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - imposed militant control over parts of Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation shows British leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," Britain's Defence Chief the minister said.
British military aircraft have carried out overwatch operations over Syria to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its routing at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to every member of our armed forces involved in this operation for their skill and their courage," the Defence Secretary added. "Including them were numerous British personnel deployed over the holidays. This action, to remove dangerous terrorists who threaten our safety, highlights how our armed forces are always on standby, throughout the year, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
During December, the American forces conducted what it described as a "large-scale strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, following an assault resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. says Daesh still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
