Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with France's air force in a coordinated attack against an hidden munitions depot in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, identified by surveillance, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets employed laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a number of entry passages leading to the site... early reports indicate the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the strike late on Saturday and each participating jet made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were assisted by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - referred to as ISIS - enforced jihadist rule over significant areas in Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation shows British leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eradicate any revival of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
RAF aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of the group following its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank the personnel of our armed forces who took part in this operation for their professionalism and their bravery," Healey added. "Including them were thousands of UK service members deployed over the holidays. This mission, to remove dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, highlights how British military are ready to step up, throughout the year, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
Last December, the United States armed forces carried out what it termed a "massive strike" on Islamic State objectives in the country, subsequent to an ambush killed two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN reports Daesh still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Syria and Iraq.
