Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Royal Air Force jets worked alongside French forces on Saturday night to carry out airstrikes on an underground facility in Syria believed to have been used by the Islamic State (IS) group to store weapons.
In a statement, the ministry said the operation successfully targeted a site that had been occupied by IS, also known as Daesh. The facility was thought to have been used for storing weapons and explosives.
Officials stressed that the area surrounding the target, located north of the ancient city of Palmyra, was uninhabited and that there was no indication the strikes posed any risk to civilians.
Although IS lost control of its territory in Syria in 2019, the group continues to operate in parts of the country, particularly in remote desert regions.
The strike follows heightened tensions after the United States said last month that a lone IS attacker in Palmyra killed two American soldiers and a US civilian. In response, US forces said they carried out retaliatory strikes against dozens of IS targets across Syria.
