Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French aircraft in a joint strike against an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, located using reconnaissance, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was situated in hills just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a several approach shafts leading to the facility... preliminary assessments are that the strike was effective," the ministry announced.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the ministry further stated.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - also known as the so-called Islamic State - enforced jihadist rule over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action underscores the UK's leading role, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
UK warplanes have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of IS after its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank the personnel of British forces who took part in this strike for their expertise and their bravery," he said. "Including them were a great many British troops on duty over the holidays. This operation, to take out terrorist threats who threaten our security, demonstrates how our armed forces are prepared to act, all year round, ensuring Britain's security at home and powerful internationally."
In December, the US military conducted what it termed a "massive strike" against IS targets in Syria, after an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates Daesh still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
