British Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with French warplanes in a coordinated attack on an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The facility, located using surveillance, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountains just above the historic site of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of entry passages providing entry to the depot... preliminary assessments suggest the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian impact in the attack late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned safely, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This operation underscores the UK's leading role, and commitment to operate in unison with allied nations, to eradicate any re-emergence of IS and their violent and radical beliefs in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the minister stated.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS after its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to the personnel of our armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their courage," he commented. "Including them were numerous British personnel deployed over the festive period. This mission, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our security, highlights how our armed forces are always on standby, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
In December, the US military carried out what it called a "massive strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. says Daesh still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
