Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — The Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad has begun digging tunnels in the aftermath of the war with Israel.

Jihad’s military wing said it was constructing an unspecified number of tunnels in the Gaza Strip. The Al Quds Brigades took Arab correspondents on a tour of one of the tunnels.

“We are getting these tunnels ready for the next battle, in order to launch attacks and fire mortars and artillery,” a masked Jihad spokesman said. “These tunnels will also have other uses, which we will not disclose.”

In a report on Qatar’s A-Jazeera television on Sept. 4, Jihad led a camera crew through a tunnel said to be have been built after a ceasefire was reached in August 2014. Jihad operatives said the tunnels would be used for mortar and artillery fire on Israel.

The tunnels were said to have been built rapidly and remained vulnerable to cave-ins. The operatives said the underground passages were meant to penetrate Israel.

Jihad said it was using advanced weapons acquired from Iran. The operatives cited such weapons as the AT-14 Kornet anti-tank guided missile as well as unspecified surface-to-air missiles.

“We are in a forward position right now — a special room for launching anti-tank weapons, especially the Kornet missile,” a Jihad operative said.

  Al Quds Brigades, AT-14 Kornet, Iran-backed Islamic Jihad building new Gaza tunnels ‘for the next battle’, WorldTribune.com