RAF Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a coordinated attack against an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK's MoD.
The location, identified by surveillance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was situated in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft employed laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to target a series of access tunnels leading to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the attack on Saturday evening and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were supported by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - also known as Daesh - established extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action shows our UK leadership, and determination to operate in unison with allied nations, to eradicate any resurgence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," the British Defence Secretary John Healey remarked.
UK warplanes have performed patrols over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of Islamic State subsequent to its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in the year 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this mission for their professionalism and their courage," he added. "Including them were numerous British troops on duty over the festive period. This mission, to take out dangerous terrorists who endanger our safety, highlights how our armed forces are always on standby, all year round, keeping Britain secure within its borders and strong abroad."
In December, the American forces carried out what it called a "large-scale strike" on IS targets in Syria, after an attack resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations says IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in both countries.
