British Air Force Typhoon jets have operated alongside French aircraft in a coordinated attack on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the IS group, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through intelligence, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the announcement noted, and was positioned in hills just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a series of approach shafts down to the facility... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the strike on Saturday evening and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as ISIS - enforced extremist governance over significant areas in Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike demonstrates British leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," the British Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary remarked.
RAF aircraft have performed patrols over Syrian airspace to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of IS following its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank all the members of British forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their bravery," the Defence Secretary added. "They were part of numerous British personnel on duty over the holidays. This mission, to remove terrorist threats who threaten our security, shows how our armed forces are prepared to act, throughout the year, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."
Last December, the American forces conducted what it called a "major assault" on IS targets in Syria, after an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. estimates IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Iraq and Syria.
