RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside France's air force in a combined operation against an subterranean weapons facility in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was positioned in hills just north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to strike a number of access tunnels providing entry to the depot... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the operation conducted Saturday night and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
The Islamic State group - also known as Daesh - imposed extremist governance over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike shows our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eradicate any re-emergence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary the minister remarked.
UK warplanes have carried out patrols over Syria to "prevent any attempted comeback" of Islamic State following its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I must thank the personnel of British forces participating in this mission for their skill and their courage," he commented. "Including them were thousands of British personnel deployed over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to remove dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, shows how British military are ready to step up, all year round, keeping Britain secure within its borders and powerful internationally."
In December, the United States armed forces conducted what it described as a "major assault" against IS targets in the country, following an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US troops and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. says Islamic State still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in both countries.
