Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have operated alongside French warplanes in a combined operation on an underground arms cache in Syrian territory operated by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was positioned in hills just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a several access tunnels leading to the facility... early reports are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the attack on Saturday evening and every plane involved returned safely, the MoD added.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
IS - alternatively referred to as ISIS - enforced extremist governance over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike shows our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
RAF aircraft have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted comeback" of IS after its routing at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their professionalism and their valour," he added. "Including them were thousands of British personnel deployed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to eliminate terrorist threats who threaten our safety, demonstrates how UK forces are ready to step up, throughout the year, keeping Britain secure at home and powerful internationally."
In December, the US military carried out what it termed a "major assault" targeting Daesh sites in Syria, subsequent to an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The United Nations reports Daesh still has roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Syria and Iraq.
