Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with France's air force in a combined operation on an underground arms cache in Syria operated by the Daesh militant organization, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, identified by intelligence, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"The RAF jets employed Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a series of access tunnels leading to the facility... preliminary assessments indicate the strike was effective," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the strike on Saturday evening and all the aircraft returned safely, the MoD added.
The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.
Daesh - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - established militant control over large swathes of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This operation shows the UK's leading role, and commitment to operate in unison with allied nations, to eliminate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the Defence Secretary remarked.
British military aircraft have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "prevent any attempted resurgence" of Islamic State following its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I extend gratitude to every member of British forces involved in this strike for their skill and their valour," he said. "They were among a great many UK service members deployed over the holidays. This mission, to take out dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, highlights how British military are prepared to act, continuously, ensuring Britain's security at home and powerful internationally."
In December, the American forces executed what it called a "massive strike" on Daesh sites in Syria, after an attack claimed the lives of two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The United Nations says Daesh still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
