Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French aircraft in a joint strike targeting an subterranean weapons facility in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The location, pinpointed through surveillance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes utilized precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of approach shafts leading to the site... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the operation conducted Saturday night and every plane involved made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - referred to as Daesh - imposed extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike demonstrates our UK leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eliminate any revival of Daesh and their violent and radical beliefs in the area," the British Defence Secretary the minister stated.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syria to "forestall any attempted comeback" of Islamic State after its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank every member of our armed forces involved in this mission for their professionalism and their valour," the Defence Secretary said. "They were among a great many UK service members deployed over the festive period. This operation, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who threaten our safety, highlights how UK forces are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and powerful internationally."
During December, the US military executed what it termed a "large-scale strike" targeting Daesh sites in the country, after an assault killed two US troops and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.
The UN estimates IS still boasts an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
