British Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a combined operation against an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, located using surveillance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to target a number of entry passages leading to the depot... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the attack conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned safely, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
The Islamic State group - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced jihadist rule over large swathes of Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This operation underscores British leadership, and determination to work closely with our partners, to eliminate any re-emergence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS following its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank the personnel of our armed forces participating in this operation for their professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "Including them were thousands of UK service members deployed over the holidays. This action, to remove dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, demonstrates how our armed forces are ready to step up, all year round, protecting the UK within its borders and powerful internationally."
During December, the United States armed forces carried out what it called a "large-scale strike" against Islamic State objectives in the country, subsequent to an ambush killed two US troops and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates Islamic State still has between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.