Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a combined operation on an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory used by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, located using reconnaissance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was positioned in hills just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets employed laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to target a several access tunnels providing entry to the depot... early reports suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the operation late on Saturday and every plane involved made a safe return, the MoD added.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - referred to as Daesh - established extremist governance over parts of both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This operation demonstrates our UK leadership, and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary stated.
UK warplanes have conducted patrols over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of the group after its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank every member of British forces who took part in this strike for their expertise and their valour," he added. "Including them were a great many UK service members stationed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to eliminate militants who threaten our safety, shows how British military are ready to step up, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and influential overseas."
Last December, the American forces executed what it termed a "large-scale strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, following an attack claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The UN reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Iraq and Syria.
