British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a coordinated attack against an hidden munitions depot in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through surveillance, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountainous terrain just to the north of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets employed Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a number of entry passages leading to the site... initial indications suggest the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the operation conducted Saturday night and each participating jet made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over parts of Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This action shows the UK's leading role, and resolve to operate in unison with our partners, to stamp out any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary the minister said.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of the group following its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank every member of the UK armed forces who took part in this mission for their skill and their valour," he commented. "They were part of a great many British personnel on duty over the holidays. This action, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, highlights how UK forces are always on standby, throughout the year, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."
In December, the American forces executed what it termed a "large-scale strike" on IS targets in Syria, following an ambush claimed the lives of two US troops and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The UN reports IS still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in both countries.
