Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a combined operation on an underground arms cache in Syria operated by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, pinpointed through intelligence, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes used laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a several approach shafts down to the site... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the attack on Saturday evening and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - also known as the so-called Islamic State - established extremist governance over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action underscores British leadership, and resolve to work closely with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have conducted patrols over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of the group following its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank every member of our armed forces who took part in this operation for their expertise and their courage," the Defence Secretary said. "Including them were numerous British troops deployed over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who endanger our way of life, shows how UK forces are always on standby, continuously, keeping Britain secure within its borders and strong abroad."
During December, the American forces executed what it termed a "massive strike" against Daesh sites in the country, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations estimates IS still boasts between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
