Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have operated alongside France's air force in a coordinated attack on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the IS group, per a report from the UK's MoD.
The facility, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was located in hills just above Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes used laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to strike a series of entry passages providing entry to the facility... preliminary assessments are that the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the strike on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned safely, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon fighters were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - enforced extremist governance over parts of Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This strike demonstrates our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the region," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey said.
British military aircraft have performed overwatch operations over Syria to "deter any attempted resurgence" of the group following its routing at the climactic battle in Baghuz in the year 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their bravery," Healey commented. "They were part of numerous British troops stationed over Christmas and New Year. This action, to eliminate terrorist threats who pose a risk to our safety, highlights how UK forces are ready to step up, all year round, protecting the UK at home and influential overseas."
In December, the US military conducted what it termed a "major assault" targeting Islamic State objectives in Syria, subsequent to an assault resulted in the deaths of two US troops and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN reports Islamic State still has roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Iraq and Syria.
