RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike targeting an hidden munitions depot in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was positioned in hills just to the north of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets employed Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of approach shafts leading to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the operation late on Saturday and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - also known as Daesh - established militant control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to eliminate any re-emergence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
British military aircraft have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of IS after its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces who took part in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," he added. "Including them were a great many British troops stationed over the festive period. This mission, to remove terrorist threats who pose a risk to our security, demonstrates how our armed forces are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
Last December, the United States armed forces carried out what it termed a "massive strike" against Islamic State objectives in the country, after an assault resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Iraq and Syria.
