Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have operated alongside French aircraft in a coordinated attack targeting an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the IS group, according to the British defence ministry.
The location, identified by intelligence, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was located in hills just above Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to strike a number of approach shafts providing entry to the site... initial indications are that the strike was effective," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the strike conducted Saturday night and each participating jet returned safely, the MoD added.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - alternatively referred to as Daesh - imposed militant control over significant areas in Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike demonstrates British leadership, and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eliminate any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary John Healey remarked.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syria to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS after its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank all the members of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their professionalism and their valour," he commented. "Including them were numerous UK service members on duty over the holidays. This mission, to take out dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our security, shows how our armed forces are always on standby, all year round, ensuring Britain's security domestically and influential overseas."
Last December, the United States armed forces carried out what it described as a "large-scale strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, following an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. estimates Islamic State still boasts an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
