Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French warplanes in a joint strike on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria operated by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, located using reconnaissance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was positioned in hills just above Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a series of access tunnels down to the facility... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the strike conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - established militant control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This strike underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to work closely with our partners, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their violent and radical beliefs in the region," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
RAF aircraft have carried out overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of Islamic State after its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I extend gratitude to every member of our armed forces who took part in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," he commented. "Including them were numerous British personnel deployed over the festive period. This action, to remove terrorist threats who threaten our way of life, highlights how UK forces are ready to step up, throughout the year, protecting the UK at home and influential overseas."
In December, the American forces carried out what it termed a "large-scale strike" on Islamic State objectives in the country, following an ambush claimed the lives of two US troops and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The United Nations says IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand militants in both countries.
