Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have operated alongside French aircraft in a joint strike against an subterranean weapons facility in Syria operated by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the British defence ministry.
The facility, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was situated in mountains just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a series of approach shafts providing entry to the depot... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the attack on Saturday evening and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - referred to as Daesh - imposed militant control over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This action demonstrates British leadership, and resolve to operate in unison with our partners, to eliminate any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary remarked.
British military aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "prevent any attempted comeback" of IS subsequent to its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank all the members of our armed forces involved in this strike for their expertise and their courage," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were among numerous British troops deployed over the festive period. This action, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our security, highlights how British military are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and influential overseas."
In December, the US military carried out what it called a "major assault" targeting IS targets in Syria, subsequent to an attack killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in both countries.
