Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a coordinated attack targeting an hidden munitions depot in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a number of entry passages providing entry to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the operation conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
Daesh - referred to as Daesh - imposed jihadist rule over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation demonstrates British leadership, and determination to work closely with our partners, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," UK Defence Secretary the minister said.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State 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 professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary commented. "Including them were numerous British personnel stationed over the holidays. This action, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our security, highlights how British military are prepared to act, throughout the year, protecting the UK at home and powerful internationally."
During December, the American forces executed what it called a "major assault" targeting Islamic State objectives in Syria, following an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations estimates IS still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Iraq and Syria.
