Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with France's air force in a combined operation against an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK's MoD.
The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the announcement noted, and was located in mountains just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a series of access tunnels providing entry to the site... preliminary assessments indicate the target was engaged successfully," officials stated.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the strike on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were supported by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - referred to as Daesh - imposed jihadist rule over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike demonstrates the UK's leading role, and determination to operate in unison with our partners, to eradicate any resurgence of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the minister remarked.
RAF aircraft have performed patrols over Syria to "prevent any attempted comeback" of IS following its defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the MoD reported.
"I must thank the personnel of the UK armed forces participating in this strike for their expertise and their courage," he commented. "They were part of thousands of British personnel stationed over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to remove militants who endanger our safety, shows how UK forces are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and influential overseas."
In December, the US military carried out what it called a "large-scale strike" against Islamic State objectives in Syria, following an ambush killed two American soldiers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The United Nations says IS still has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in both countries.
