Joint Anglo-French Air Strike Hits IS Weapons Depot in the Syrian region

British Air Force Typhoon jets have operated alongside France's air force in a combined operation on an subterranean weapons facility in Syria operated by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The site, pinpointed through reconnaissance, was assessed as storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was located in mountainous terrain just north of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria's central region.

"Our aircraft used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to target a number of access tunnels leading to the depot... preliminary assessments suggest the strike was effective," the MoD said.

There was no evidence of any harm to civilians in the operation conducted Saturday night and every plane involved returned to base without incident, the defence officials confirmed.

The British jets were assisted by a Voyager tanker plane.

IS - referred to as Daesh - enforced jihadist rule over large swathes of Iraq and Syria prior to its 2019 collapse.

"This operation shows British leadership, and resolve to operate in unison with our partners, to stamp out any resurgence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the area," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey said.

UK warplanes have carried out surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State after its routing at the Baghuz confrontation in 2019, the ministry said.

"I extend gratitude to every member of our armed forces involved in this operation for their professionalism and their valour," he commented. "Including them were thousands of UK service members stationed over the festive period. This action, to remove dangerous terrorists who threaten our way of life, shows how our armed forces are prepared to act, throughout the year, keeping Britain secure domestically and powerful internationally."

Last December, the US military conducted what it called a "major assault" against IS targets in the country, following an ambush resulted in the deaths of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.

The United Nations estimates Islamic State still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in both countries.