Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike on an hidden munitions depot in Syria operated by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK's MoD.
The facility, identified by reconnaissance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was positioned in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to strike a number of access tunnels providing entry to the depot... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the strike on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were supported by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced militant control over significant areas in Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This operation demonstrates British leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
RAF aircraft have conducted overwatch operations over Syria to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of IS after its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to the personnel of our armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were part of thousands of UK service members on duty over the holidays. This operation, to take out terrorist threats who pose a risk to our security, shows how our armed forces are always on standby, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and strong abroad."
In December, the American forces executed what it termed a "major assault" on Islamic State objectives in Syria, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. says IS still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Syria and Iraq.
