Coordinated British-French Aerial Assault Hits Islamic State Arms Cache in the Syrian region

RAF Typhoon jets have joined forces with French aircraft in a joint strike against an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the Daesh militant organization, according to the British defence ministry.

The facility, located using reconnaissance, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was positioned in hills just to the north of the ancient city of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.

"Our aircraft employed precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a several approach shafts leading to the site... initial indications suggest the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.

There was no indication of any civilian casualties in the operation on Saturday evening and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.

The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.

Daesh - alternatively referred to as Daesh - enforced jihadist rule over significant areas in both Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.

"This strike shows British leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eliminate any revival of the terrorist group and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey remarked.

UK warplanes have carried out overwatch operations over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of IS following its routing at the battle of Baghuz in the year 2019, the MoD reported.

"I want to thank the personnel of the UK armed forces who took part in this mission for their expertise and their bravery," the Defence Secretary said. "They were among thousands of British personnel deployed over the holidays. This operation, to remove dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, shows how British military are ready to step up, throughout the year, protecting the UK within its borders and influential overseas."

During December, the US military executed what it described as a "massive strike" targeting Islamic State objectives in the country, subsequent to an attack killed two US troops and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.

The UN reports IS still boasts an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters in both countries.