RAF Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with France's air force in a coordinated attack on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria employed by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The facility, pinpointed through surveillance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was located in hills just north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"The RAF jets used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a series of approach shafts down to the facility... initial indications are that the target was engaged successfully," the MoD said.
There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the attack late on Saturday and all the aircraft made a safe return, the MoD added.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager refuelling tanker.
The Islamic State group - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced extremist governance over parts of Iraq and Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
"This action demonstrates the UK's leading role, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to stamp out any revival of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated.
British military aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syria to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of the group after its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank every member of British forces who took part in this mission for their professionalism and their valour," he added. "They were among a great many British personnel deployed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to take out militants who threaten our way of life, demonstrates how British military are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure at home and influential overseas."
Last December, the American forces carried out what it described as a "large-scale strike" on IS targets in the country, subsequent to an ambush killed two US troops and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.
The United Nations reports Daesh still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
