RAF Typhoon jets have joined forces with French aircraft in a combined operation on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, identified by intelligence, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our aircraft employed laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to strike a number of access tunnels leading to the facility... early reports suggest the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the attack conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft made a safe return, the MoD added.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike demonstrates our UK leadership, and determination to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey stated.
UK warplanes have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS following its routing at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I must thank all the members of British forces who took part in this strike for their skill and their valour," he commented. "They were among thousands of British troops deployed over the holidays. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who pose a risk to our way of life, highlights how our armed forces are ready to step up, continuously, keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad."
During December, the American forces carried out what it called a "massive strike" against Islamic State objectives in Syria, following an ambush claimed the lives of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN reports Daesh still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Syria and Iraq.
