British Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with French aircraft in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria operated by the IS group, per a report from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, identified by reconnaissance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was located in mountains just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of access tunnels down to the facility... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the strike on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the ministry further stated.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established jihadist rule over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This operation underscores the UK's leading role, and resolve to operate in unison with allied nations, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary the minister stated.
British military aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "deter any attempted comeback" of IS following its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were part of thousands of British personnel on duty over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who threaten our way of life, shows how British military are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK within its borders and influential overseas."
In December, the US military executed what it described as a "large-scale strike" against Daesh sites in the country, following an attack killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The United Nations says IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Iraq and Syria.
