Coordinated Anglo-French Air Strike Hits Daesh Weapons Depot in Syria
Royal Air Force Typhoon jets have joined forces with French warplanes in a joint strike against an subterranean weapons facility in Syrian territory used by the Daesh militant organization, per a report from the British defence ministry.
The site, located using intelligence, was assessed as containing munitions and bombs, the release indicated, and was located in mountains just above the historic site of Palmyra in Syria's central region.
"Our fighter planes utilized Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a series of entry passages down to the depot... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.
There was no evidence of any civilian impact in the operation late on Saturday and each participating jet returned safely, the ministry further stated.
The Typhoon FGR4s were supported by a Voyager tanker plane.
IS - referred to as Daesh - established extremist governance over significant areas in Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This operation underscores British leadership, and commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with allied nations, to stamp out any revival of IS and their violent and radical beliefs in the region," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey remarked.
UK warplanes have conducted surveillance missions over Syrian airspace to "forestall any attempted comeback" of IS subsequent to its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I must thank all the members of our armed forces who took part in this strike for their professionalism and their valour," Healey commented. "Including them were thousands of UK service members stationed over Christmas and New Year. This mission, to take out terrorist threats who endanger our security, shows how British military are prepared to act, all year round, keeping Britain secure domestically and strong abroad."
Last December, the American forces carried out what it termed a "major assault" on IS targets in the country, following an ambush claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a local interpreter in Palmyra.
The U.N. reports IS still has between 5,000 and 7,000 combatants in Iraq and Syria.