Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have joined forces with French warplanes in a coordinated attack against an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory employed by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, identified by surveillance, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a series of approach shafts providing entry to the site... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the attack conducted Saturday night and every plane involved made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - alternatively referred to as ISIS - enforced jihadist rule over large swathes of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eliminate any revival of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary the minister remarked.
British military aircraft have performed patrols over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of IS subsequent to its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces participating in this mission for their expertise and their bravery," he added. "They were part of numerous British troops deployed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, highlights how British military are always on standby, all year round, protecting the UK domestically and powerful internationally."
In December, the American forces carried out what it termed a "large-scale strike" against Islamic State objectives in the country, after an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations says Daesh still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Iraq and Syria.
