British Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with French warplanes in a coordinated attack targeting an underground arms cache in Syria operated by the IS group, as stated by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, identified by reconnaissance, was believed to be containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was situated in mountains just above the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets employed laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to strike a number of access tunnels leading to the site... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the strike conducted Saturday night and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the MoD added.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
Daesh - referred to as ISIS - established jihadist rule over parts of Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation demonstrates our UK leadership, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to stamp out any revival of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
British military aircraft have performed patrols over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of Islamic State following its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in the year 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank all the members of our armed forces who took part in this mission for their professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "Including them were thousands of British personnel deployed over the holidays. This mission, to take out terrorist threats who endanger our way of life, shows how our armed forces are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
During December, the American forces executed what it called a "large-scale strike" on Islamic State objectives in the country, after an attack resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The UN reports Islamic State still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 combatants in Iraq and Syria.
