Joint UK-French Air Strike Hits IS Weapons Depot in Syria
British Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have conducted a mission with France's air force in a joint strike against an hidden munitions depot in Syrian territory used by the Daesh militant organization, according to the British defence ministry.
The location, identified by intelligence, was believed to be storing arms and explosives, the release indicated, and was located in mountainous terrain just above the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes used Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a number of approach shafts leading to the site... initial indications are that the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the strike conducted Saturday night and all the aircraft made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The British jets were backed up by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - alternatively referred to as ISIS - enforced militant control over parts of both Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike underscores our UK leadership, and commitment to work closely with our partners, to eradicate any re-emergence of IS and their dangerous and violent ideologies in the area," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey remarked.
British military aircraft have conducted surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted resurgence" of the group following its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank all the members of our armed forces who took part in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," Healey added. "Including them were numerous British personnel on duty over the festive period. This action, to eliminate terrorist threats who endanger our way of life, demonstrates how our armed forces are always on standby, throughout the year, ensuring Britain's security domestically and strong abroad."
In December, the US military executed what it called a "large-scale strike" against IS targets in Syria, after an attack resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The U.N. says Daesh still has roughly 5-7 thousand fighters in both countries.
