Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French aircraft in a combined operation on an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory operated by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a series of entry passages providing entry to the site... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the operation on Saturday evening and every plane involved made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike shows our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," the British Defence Secretary the minister remarked.
British military aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of IS subsequent to its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank the personnel of British forces who took part in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary added. "They were part of numerous UK service members on duty over the holidays. This action, to eliminate militants who pose a risk to our safety, shows how our armed forces are always on standby, continuously, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
During December, the United States armed forces carried out what it called a "massive strike" targeting Daesh sites in Syria, following an assault killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. estimates IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Syria and Iraq.
