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DAMASCUS, Syria — <\/span>British and French warplanes carried out an airstrike in central Syria on an underground facility where members of the Islamic State group<\/a> are suspected to have stored weapons and explosives, the British defense ministry said Sunday.<\/p>\n The strikes occurred Saturday evening on the structure in the mountains just north of the historic town of Palmyra<\/a> in the country\u2019s Homs province, the ministry’s statement said.<\/p>\n Britain and France are part of the U.S.-led coalition that has been fighting IS militants for more than a decade.<\/p>\n The ministry said the British military used Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets supported by a Voyager refueling tanker and were joined by French aircraft in the joint strike. The British air force used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of access tunnels down to the facility, the statement said, adding that while a detailed assessment is now underway, initial indications are \u201cthat the target was engaged successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis action shows our UK leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies, to stamp out any resurgence\u201d of IS and its \u201cviolent ideologies\u201d in the Middle East, said Defense Secretary John Healey.<\/p>\n There was no immediate comment from Syria\u2019s government on the strikes. Syria joined<\/a> the anti-IS coalition late last year.<\/p>\n Despite its defeat in Syria in 2019, IS sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq where the extremists once declared their caliphate<\/a>. U.N. experts say IS still commands<\/a> between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former stronghold in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n Last month, the Trump administration launched military strikes<\/a> in Syria to \u201celiminate\u201d IS fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack<\/a> near Palmyra that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter days earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n