India, Jan. 5 -- British and French warplanes carried out an airstrike in central Syria on an underground facility where members of the Islamic State group are suspected to have stored weapons and explosives, the British defence ministry said on Sunday. The strikes occurred Saturday evening on the structure in the mountains just north of the historic town of Palmyra in the country's Homs province, the ministry's statement said. Britain and France are part of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS militants for more than a decade.

The ministry said the British military used Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker and were joined by French aircraft in the joint strike. The British air force used Paveway I...