Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have joined forces with French warplanes in a joint strike targeting an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The site, identified by intelligence, was believed to be containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was situated in hills just north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft employed laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a several access tunnels down to the depot... early reports suggest the strike was effective," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the attack on Saturday evening and every plane involved made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - alternatively referred to as Daesh - established militant control over large swathes of Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This action shows our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eliminate any revival of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey said.
British military aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syria to "forestall any attempted comeback" of Islamic State after its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I extend gratitude to every member of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their professionalism and their courage," Healey commented. "They were part of thousands of British troops on duty over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our security, shows how our armed forces are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK at home and influential overseas."
Last December, the United States armed forces executed what it called a "major assault" targeting Daesh sites in Syria, subsequent to an assault claimed the lives of two US troops and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates Daesh still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Syria and Iraq.
