Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with France's air force in a coordinated attack against an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the British defence ministry.
The location, located using reconnaissance, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was situated in hills just above Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a number of entry passages providing entry to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the attack late on Saturday and every plane involved made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - also known as Daesh - established militant control over parts of both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This operation demonstrates our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I extend gratitude to every member of the UK armed forces who took part in this mission for their professionalism and their valour," Healey added. "Including them were thousands of UK service members stationed over the holidays. This mission, to take out militants who endanger our safety, demonstrates how British military are prepared to act, all year round, ensuring Britain's security domestically and influential overseas."
During December, the American forces carried out what it called a "massive strike" against IS targets in the country, subsequent to an assault resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The UN reports Daesh still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Syria and Iraq.
