RAF Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike against an hidden munitions depot in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK's MoD.
The site, pinpointed through intelligence, was thought to be containing munitions and bombs, the statement said, and was located in mountains just north of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes utilized laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to target a several entry passages providing entry to the facility... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.
There was no sign of any civilian casualties in the operation on Saturday evening and each participating jet made a safe return, the ministry further stated.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced extremist governance over parts of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This action underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to stamp out any resurgence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syria to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of the group after its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this operation for their expertise and their valour," he commented. "Including them were a great many British troops deployed over the festive period. This action, to remove militants who endanger our safety, highlights how UK forces are prepared to act, all year round, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
In December, the United States armed forces conducted what it described as a "large-scale strike" targeting IS targets in Syria, following an assault resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. says Islamic State still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in both countries.
