Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French aircraft in a combined operation on an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory employed by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The site, identified by reconnaissance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was situated in hills just above the historic site of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of approach shafts down to the site... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the attack conducted Saturday night and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established extremist governance over significant areas in Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action demonstrates the UK's leading role, and commitment to operate in unison with allied nations, to eradicate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
RAF aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of Islamic State subsequent to its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank the personnel of British forces participating in this mission for their professionalism and their valour," he commented. "Including them were numerous British troops stationed over the festive period. This mission, to take out dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our way of life, highlights how British military are always on standby, all year round, ensuring Britain's security domestically and powerful internationally."
Last December, the American forces carried out what it called a "major assault" targeting IS targets in Syria, after an ambush killed two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. reports IS still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Iraq and Syria.
