Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with France's air force in a coordinated attack targeting an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through surveillance, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was located in hills just to the north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to target a several access tunnels down to the facility... initial indications suggest the target was engaged successfully," the MoD said.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the strike on Saturday evening and every plane involved returned safely, the MoD added.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - also known as the so-called Islamic State - enforced militant control over parts of Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to stamp out any re-emergence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary said.
UK warplanes have carried out overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of the group after its military defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank every member of our armed forces participating in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," Healey said. "Including them were numerous British personnel deployed over the holidays. This operation, to take out militants who threaten our way of life, shows how UK forces are always on standby, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
Last December, the United States armed forces conducted what it termed a "large-scale strike" on Islamic State objectives in Syria, following an attack killed two US troops and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports Islamic State still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Syria and Iraq.
