Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with France's air force in a joint strike on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through surveillance, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was positioned in mountains just above the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a series of approach shafts down to the depot... preliminary assessments are that the strike was effective," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
The Islamic State group - also known as Daesh - imposed extremist governance over significant areas in Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation underscores the UK's leading role, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to stamp out any re-emergence of IS and their violent and radical beliefs in the area," Britain's Defence Chief the Defence Secretary remarked.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS following its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank all the members of our armed forces who took part in this operation for their expertise and their courage," Healey said. "They were among numerous British personnel on duty over the festive period. This operation, to take out militants who pose a risk to our security, shows how UK forces are always on standby, continuously, protecting the UK at home and influential overseas."
During December, the American forces conducted what it termed a "massive strike" against IS targets in Syria, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates Daesh still boasts an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 combatants in Syria and Iraq.
