British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with France's air force in a combined operation against an underground arms cache in Syrian territory used by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK's MoD.
The site, pinpointed through surveillance, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was positioned in mountains just above the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes utilized precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of access tunnels down to the facility... early reports are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the operation on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - also known as ISIS - enforced extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action shows our UK leadership, and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
UK warplanes have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank the personnel of the UK armed forces who took part in this strike for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were among numerous UK service members stationed over the festive period. This mission, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who endanger our way of life, highlights how British military are ready to step up, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and powerful internationally."
Last December, the US military conducted what it termed a "major assault" against IS targets in the country, after an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. reports Daesh still has between 5,000 and 7,000 combatants in Iraq and Syria.
