RAF Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with French warplanes in a joint strike targeting an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory used by the Islamic State group (IS), as stated by the British defence ministry.
The site, located using surveillance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was located in mountainous terrain just to the north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets used laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to hit a number of access tunnels leading to the depot... initial indications are that the target was engaged successfully," the ministry announced.
There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the strike on Saturday evening and every plane involved made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - alternatively referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced extremist governance over parts of Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action demonstrates the UK's leading role, and resolve to operate in unison with allied nations, to stamp out any resurgence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," the British Defence Secretary John Healey said.
British military aircraft have conducted patrols over Syria to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of IS after its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to all the members of British forces involved in this strike for their skill and their valour," he added. "They were among a great many British personnel deployed over the festive period. This operation, to take out militants who endanger our security, highlights how British military are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK within its borders and powerful internationally."
During December, the American forces executed what it called a "major assault" on Daesh sites in the country, subsequent to an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The UN estimates Daesh still maintains an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in both countries.
