RAF Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French warplanes in a joint strike against an hidden munitions depot in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, identified by surveillance, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was located in mountains just above Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a series of entry passages providing entry to the depot... preliminary assessments are that the strike was effective," officials stated.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the strike on Saturday evening and every plane involved returned safely, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - also known as the so-called Islamic State - imposed extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This operation demonstrates British leadership, and determination to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," the British Defence Secretary the minister remarked.
British military aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "forestall any attempted comeback" of the group subsequent to its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this strike for their skill and their courage," he added. "They were among numerous UK service members deployed over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to eliminate terrorist threats who pose a risk to our way of life, demonstrates how UK forces are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK domestically and powerful internationally."
In December, the US military carried out what it called a "massive strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, subsequent to an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The UN estimates Daesh still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in both countries.
