RAF Typhoon FGR4s have operated alongside France's air force in a coordinated attack targeting an subterranean weapons facility in Syria used by the IS group, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The location, located using intelligence, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of approach shafts providing entry to the site... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the operation conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - also known as the so-called Islamic State - enforced extremist governance over large swathes of Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This operation demonstrates British leadership, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to eliminate any re-emergence of the terrorist group and their violent and radical beliefs in the area," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary stated.
British military aircraft have performed surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "deter any attempted resurgence" of IS following its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were part of numerous British troops deployed over the festive period. This operation, to take out dangerous terrorists who endanger our safety, highlights how our armed forces are prepared to act, all year round, protecting the UK domestically and powerful internationally."
Last December, the US military executed what it termed a "large-scale strike" on IS targets in the country, subsequent to an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. says Islamic State still maintains roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in Iraq and Syria.
