A joint, targeted attack by warplanes from the UK and France on Saturday hit an underground arms cache in Syria used by the Islamic State terrorist group (IS).
The BBC reports “careful” intelligence analysis led officials to believe the jihadist facility was storing weaponry and explosives, a statement by the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed, adding the arms dump was in mountains just north of Palmyra, an ancient site in central Syria.
“Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of access tunnels down to the facility… initial indications are that the target was engaged successfully,” the MoD said.
There was no sign of any harm to civilians in the strike late on Saturday and all the aircraft returned safely, the MoD added.
Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon FGR4s were supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker in the attack that echoes those made by the U.S. at the end of 2025.
Last month, the Trump administration launched military strikes in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State terrorists and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack near Palmyra that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter days earlier.