Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with France's air force in a joint strike targeting an underground arms cache in Syrian territory employed by the IS group, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The location, pinpointed through surveillance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountains just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed Paveway IV guided bombs to target a several approach shafts down to the site... preliminary assessments are that the target was engaged successfully," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the attack on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
Daesh - alternatively referred to as ISIS - established jihadist rule over parts of Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action shows our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eradicate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
UK warplanes have performed surveillance missions over Syria to "deter any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State following its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank all the members of our armed forces involved in this operation for their professionalism and their valour," Healey said. "Including them were thousands of British personnel stationed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to eliminate terrorist threats who threaten our safety, demonstrates how British military are prepared to act, continuously, ensuring Britain's security within its borders and influential overseas."
During December, the United States armed forces carried out what it termed a "major assault" on Daesh sites in Syria, subsequent to an assault resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. estimates IS still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Iraq and Syria.
