Joint UK-French Aerial Assault Targets Daesh Weapons Depot in Syria

Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a coordinated attack targeting an underground arms cache in Syria employed by the IS group, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The location, pinpointed through surveillance, was believed to be housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was located in hills just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in central Syria.

"Our aircraft utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of approach shafts providing entry to the site... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," the MoD said.

There was no sign of any civilian impact in the strike on Saturday evening and each participating jet returned safely, the defence officials confirmed.

The British jets were supported by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.

Daesh - referred to as Daesh - imposed militant control over significant areas in Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat in 2019.

"This operation shows our UK leadership, and commitment to operate in unison with our allies, to eradicate any resurgence of Daesh and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," the British Defence Secretary John Healey remarked.

British military aircraft have conducted patrols over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS after its military defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.

"I extend gratitude to the personnel of our armed forces participating in this operation for their skill and their courage," he added. "They were part of thousands of UK service members deployed over the holidays. This mission, to eliminate terrorist threats who endanger our safety, demonstrates how our armed forces are ready to step up, all year round, protecting the UK domestically and powerful internationally."

During December, the American forces conducted what it termed a "major assault" targeting Islamic State objectives in Syria, subsequent to an ambush killed two US servicemembers and a civilian interpreter in the Palmyra area.

The U.N. says Daesh still boasts between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.