Coordinated Anglo-French Airstrike Hits Daesh Arms Cache in Syria

Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter aircraft have conducted a mission with French warplanes in a coordinated attack on an hidden munitions depot in Syria employed by the IS group, as stated by the UK's MoD.

The site, pinpointed through intelligence, was thought to be storing arms and explosives, the statement said, and was situated in hills just above the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.

"Our aircraft used precision-guided Paveway IV munitions to hit a number of access tunnels down to the facility... preliminary assessments suggest the objective was successfully hit," officials stated.

There was no evidence of any civilian casualties in the strike conducted Saturday night and each participating jet returned safely, the MoD added.

The Typhoon fighters were backed up by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.

The Islamic State group - referred to as Daesh - imposed extremist governance over parts of Iraq and Syria until 2019.

"This strike shows our UK leadership, and commitment to work closely with our allies, to eradicate any re-emergence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the region," Britain's Defence Chief John Healey stated.

British military aircraft have carried out overwatch operations over Syria to "prevent any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State after its defeat at the battle of Baghuz in 2019, the ministry said.

"I want to thank every member of the UK armed forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their valour," he commented. "They were part of thousands of British personnel stationed over the holidays. This operation, to take out dangerous terrorists who pose a risk to our safety, demonstrates how British military are prepared to act, throughout the year, protecting the UK within its borders and strong abroad."

During December, the United States armed forces executed what it described as a "major assault" against Daesh sites in the country, subsequent to an assault claimed the lives of two US servicemembers and a civilian linguist in the Palmyra area.

The United Nations estimates IS still maintains between 5,000 and 7,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.