Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a coordinated attack targeting an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory used by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The location, identified by intelligence, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of approach shafts leading to the facility... initial indications suggest the target was engaged successfully," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian impact in the attack late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - alternatively referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike demonstrates the UK's leading role, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to eliminate any revival of IS and their violent and radical beliefs in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary the minister said.
RAF aircraft have conducted overwatch operations over Syria to "deter any attempted comeback" of Islamic State subsequent to its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in the year 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank the personnel of British forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their courage," the Defence Secretary commented. "Including them were thousands of UK service members stationed over the holidays. This action, to take out terrorist threats who pose a risk to our security, shows how British military are ready to step up, continuously, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
Last December, the American forces conducted what it termed a "large-scale strike" on IS targets in the country, subsequent to an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates Daesh still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Iraq and Syria.
