RAF Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a joint strike on an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the British defence ministry.
The location, located using intelligence, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was located in mountainous terrain just north of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets utilized precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of approach shafts leading to the facility... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any civilian impact in the operation conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft made a safe return, the MoD added.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - referred to as ISIS - enforced extremist governance over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This action underscores the UK's leading role, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary said.
British military aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of the group subsequent to its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," he commented. "Including them were numerous British troops deployed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to take out militants who threaten our way of life, demonstrates how British military are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
Last December, the US military conducted what it called a "major assault" on Islamic State objectives in the country, subsequent to an ambush claimed the lives of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates IS still maintains an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
