British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike on an hidden munitions depot in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the British defence ministry.
The facility, identified by intelligence, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the statement said, and was positioned in mountains just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a several entry passages leading to the site... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian impact in the strike conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established extremist governance over large swathes of Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action underscores our UK leadership, and resolve to operate in unison with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary John Healey remarked.
UK warplanes have carried out patrols over Syria to "deter any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank all the members of British forces participating in this operation for their professionalism and their courage," he said. "Including them were a great many British troops deployed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to take out terrorist threats who pose a risk to our way of life, demonstrates how British military are ready to step up, all year round, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."
During December, the US military carried out what it called a "major assault" against Daesh sites in the country, following an ambush claimed the lives of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. says IS still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in both countries.
