British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have joined forces with France's air force in a coordinated attack on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the British defence ministry.
The site, identified by reconnaissance, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the statement said, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft used laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a number of access tunnels leading to the depot... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the attack on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
Daesh - referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over parts of Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This operation shows British leadership, and resolve to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the Defence Secretary remarked.
UK warplanes have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "deter any efforts to regroup" of the group subsequent to its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank every member of British forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their valour," he added. "Including them were thousands of British personnel stationed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to eliminate militants who threaten our safety, shows how our armed forces are ready to step up, throughout the year, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
Last December, the United States armed forces carried out what it described as a "massive strike" against IS targets in the country, after an attack claimed the lives of two US troops and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports Daesh still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 combatants in both countries.
