British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside France's air force in a combined operation on an underground arms cache in Syrian territory used by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the British defence ministry.
The location, identified by reconnaissance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was positioned in hills just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a number of entry passages providing entry to the facility... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the operation late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned safely, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
Daesh - alternatively referred to as ISIS - established militant control over significant areas in Iraq and Syria until 2019.
"This strike shows British leadership, and resolve to work closely with our allies, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary remarked.
RAF aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of the group subsequent to its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I extend gratitude to every member of British forces participating in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "Including them were thousands of UK service members deployed over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who endanger our safety, shows how our armed forces are always on standby, all year round, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
During December, the American forces carried out what it termed a "massive strike" on Islamic State objectives in the country, subsequent to an attack killed two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports Islamic State still boasts between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.
