British Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with French aircraft in a coordinated attack on an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the IS group, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The site, identified by reconnaissance, was thought to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the release indicated, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"The RAF jets used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to strike a several access tunnels leading to the facility... early reports are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the operation on Saturday evening and all the aircraft made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - referred to as Daesh - enforced jihadist rule over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This operation demonstrates British leadership, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of the group subsequent to its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank the personnel of British forces who took part in this strike for their professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "They were among numerous British personnel on duty over Christmas and New Year. This action, to take out terrorist threats who pose a risk to our security, demonstrates how British military are prepared to act, continuously, ensuring Britain's security at home and strong abroad."
During December, the United States armed forces conducted what it termed a "major assault" targeting Islamic State objectives in Syria, subsequent to an attack killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations says Daesh still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
