Combined UK-French Air Strike Strikes Islamic State Weapons Depot in the Syrian region

British Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French aircraft in a joint strike targeting an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Daesh militant organization, as stated by the UK's MoD.

The location, pinpointed through intelligence, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was positioned in mountainous terrain just to the north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.

"Our fighter planes used Paveway IV guided bombs to hit a several access tunnels down to the facility... initial indications indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.

There was no indication of any harm to civilians in the strike late on Saturday and each participating jet returned to base without incident, the MoD added.

The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.

IS - also known as the so-called Islamic State - enforced militant control over parts of Iraq and Syria until 2019.

"This strike underscores our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey remarked.

RAF aircraft have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "deter any efforts to regroup" of IS subsequent to its military defeat at the Baghuz confrontation in the year 2019, the authorities noted.

"I extend gratitude to all the members of our armed forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," the Defence Secretary commented. "They were part of thousands of British personnel stationed over the festive period. This operation, to take out terrorist threats who threaten our safety, shows how British military are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."

During December, the US military executed what it called a "large-scale strike" targeting Daesh sites in Syria, following an assault killed two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.

The United Nations estimates IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Syria and Iraq.