British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have joined forces with French aircraft in a coordinated attack against an subterranean weapons facility in Syria operated by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The site, located using surveillance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was situated in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a number of access tunnels leading to the depot... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the attack conducted Saturday night and each participating jet made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established militant control over large swathes of Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our partners, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
UK warplanes have carried out surveillance missions over Syria to "prevent any attempted comeback" of the group after its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank all the members of our armed forces involved in this strike for their skill and their valour," the Defence Secretary commented. "Including them were thousands of British personnel on duty over the festive period. This mission, to remove dangerous terrorists who endanger our security, demonstrates how our armed forces are prepared to act, all year round, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
In December, the US military conducted what it termed a "large-scale strike" targeting IS targets in the country, subsequent to an ambush claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. says IS still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Syria and Iraq.
