Coordinated British-French Airstrike Hits Daesh Arms Cache in Syria

Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have joined forces with France's air force in a joint strike against an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory employed by the Islamic State group (IS), per a report from the UK Ministry of Defence.

The location, identified by intelligence, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the statement said, and was positioned in mountains just north of Palmyra in Syria's central region.

"Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a number of entry passages providing entry to the depot... early reports indicate the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.

There was no sign of any civilian impact in the operation on Saturday evening and all the aircraft returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.

The Typhoon FGR4s were supported by a Voyager tanker plane.

The Islamic State group - also known as Daesh - established jihadist rule over parts of both Syria and Iraq prior to its 2019 collapse.

"This operation shows British leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to stamp out any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," UK Defence Secretary the Defence Secretary said.

UK warplanes have conducted patrols over Syrian airspace to "deter any efforts to regroup" of IS after its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.

"I must thank all the members of our armed forces involved in this strike for their expertise and their courage," he commented. "They were part of a great many British personnel deployed over the festive period. This action, to remove dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, highlights how our armed forces are prepared to act, continuously, keeping Britain secure at home and powerful internationally."

During December, the US military carried out what it called a "large-scale strike" targeting Daesh sites in the country, following an assault resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra.

The U.N. estimates IS still has roughly 5-7 thousand combatants in Syria and Iraq.