Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have operated alongside French aircraft in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, located using surveillance, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a series of entry passages leading to the site... early reports are that 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 to base without incident, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon fighters were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - also known as Daesh - enforced militant control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This strike shows our UK leadership, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to stamp out any revival of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
British military aircraft have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State after its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the ministry said.
"I must thank the personnel of the UK armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their valour," he commented. "Including them were a great many British troops deployed over the holidays. This operation, to eliminate terrorist threats who pose a risk to our safety, demonstrates how our armed forces are ready to step up, throughout the year, ensuring Britain's security domestically and influential overseas."
Last December, the US military carried out what it described as a "large-scale strike" against Islamic State objectives in Syria, after an assault claimed the lives of two US troops and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The United Nations says IS still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Syria and Iraq.
