Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a combined operation against an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory operated by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, located using reconnaissance, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was situated in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a series of entry passages down to the facility... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the operation late on Saturday and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - alternatively referred to as ISIS - enforced militant control over parts of both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation shows the UK's leading role, and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "deter any attempted comeback" of the group after its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank all the members of our armed forces participating in this strike for their professionalism and their bravery," Healey said. "They were part of numerous UK service members deployed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to take out militants who pose a risk to our way of life, highlights how our armed forces are ready to step up, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and powerful internationally."
Last December, the US military conducted what it described as a "large-scale strike" against Daesh sites in Syria, following an attack claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Syria and Iraq.
