Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with France's air force in a joint strike against an hidden munitions depot in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was located in mountainous terrain just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a several access tunnels leading to the depot... initial indications suggest the strike was effective," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the operation conducted Saturday night and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - also known as the so-called Islamic State - enforced extremist governance over large swathes of Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This action shows the UK's leading role, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eradicate any revival of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
British military aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of the group subsequent to its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank the personnel of our armed forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "They were part of a great many UK service members deployed over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, demonstrates how UK forces are always on standby, continuously, keeping Britain secure at home and influential overseas."
In December, the US military carried out what it termed a "massive strike" on IS targets in Syria, after an assault killed two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN reports Daesh still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
