RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French aircraft in a coordinated attack targeting an hidden munitions depot in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, pinpointed through surveillance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was positioned in hills just above Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets used laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a series of access tunnels down to the depot... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the attack conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - alternatively referred to as the so-called Islamic State - imposed militant control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation demonstrates our UK leadership, and determination to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any re-emergence of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
UK warplanes have performed overwatch operations over Syria to "deter any attempted resurgence" of IS following its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank all the members of British forces participating in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," he said. "Including them were a great many UK service members on duty over the holidays. This mission, to take out terrorist threats who endanger our safety, shows how British military are prepared to act, throughout the year, protecting the UK within its borders and strong abroad."
During December, the United States armed forces executed what it described as a "large-scale strike" against IS targets in the country, following an ambush claimed the lives of two US troops and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.
The UN estimates Islamic State still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
