Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French aircraft in a combined operation targeting an underground arms cache in Syrian territory used by the IS group, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, located using intelligence, was believed to be containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was located in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a series of entry passages down to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the strike conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned safely, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon fighters were assisted by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - also known as Daesh - established extremist governance over large swathes of Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This action demonstrates the UK's leading role, and commitment to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any re-emergence of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary the minister remarked.
UK warplanes have carried out surveillance missions over Syria to "deter any attempted resurgence" of the group after its military defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I must thank every member of British forces who took part in this mission for their professionalism and their valour," Healey added. "They were part of numerous British personnel stationed over the festive period. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our way of life, highlights how British military are ready to step up, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and powerful internationally."
Last December, the American forces executed what it called a "major assault" on Islamic State objectives in the country, after an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. says Daesh still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand militants in both countries.
