Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with France's air force in a joint strike on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the British defence ministry.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was believed to be containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was situated in mountains just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a series of approach shafts down to the site... initial indications suggest the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned safely, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - also known as ISIS - imposed extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This action shows the UK's leading role, and determination to operate in unison with our partners, to eradicate any re-emergence of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syria to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of Islamic State following its routing at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank the personnel of the UK armed forces who took part in this strike for their professionalism and their valour," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were among a great many British troops on duty over the holidays. This mission, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who endanger our way of life, shows how our armed forces are ready to step up, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and powerful internationally."
Last December, the US military conducted what it described as a "large-scale strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, subsequent to an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The UN estimates Daesh still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Syria and Iraq.
