British Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with France's air force in a joint strike against an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountains just north of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our fighter planes used Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of access tunnels down to the depot... early reports suggest the target was engaged successfully," the ministry announced.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - alternatively referred to as Daesh - enforced jihadist rule over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike shows British leadership, and determination to operate in unison with our partners, to eradicate any re-emergence of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary the minister said.
UK warplanes have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "forestall any attempted comeback" of the group after its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank the personnel of the UK armed forces involved in this mission for their expertise and their valour," the Defence Secretary commented. "Including them were a great many UK service members stationed 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, throughout the year, ensuring Britain's security at home and strong abroad."
During December, the United States armed forces executed what it described as a "massive strike" on IS targets in Syria, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports Daesh still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Syria and Iraq.
