Coordinated Anglo-French Airstrike Targets Daesh Arms Cache in the Syrian region
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike on an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory used by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.
The location, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was positioned in hills just above the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria.
"Our aircraft utilized laser-guided Paveway IV weapons to strike a number of approach shafts leading to the site... preliminary assessments indicate the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the strike late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned safely, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
The Islamic State group - alternatively referred to as Daesh - established extremist governance over large swathes of both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.
"This strike shows our UK leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of IS and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," UK Defence Secretary the minister stated.
UK warplanes have conducted overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of the group subsequent to its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.
"I must thank the personnel of our armed forces participating in this mission for their skill and their valour," he added. "They were part of numerous UK service members on duty over Christmas and New Year. This operation, to eliminate dangerous terrorists who endanger our way of life, demonstrates how British military are ready to step up, all year round, keeping Britain secure within its borders and influential overseas."
Last December, the US military conducted what it called a "major assault" on IS targets in the country, following an attack killed two US troops and a local interpreter in the Palmyra area.
The U.N. reports Islamic State still maintains an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 combatants in Iraq and Syria.