Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels are waging an underground war to sustain operations near the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Opposition sources said Islamist militias in the southern suburbs of Damascus have been fighting the Syrian Army through tunnels and sewers throughout the area.

The sources said the militias, including the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, have been mining tunnels underneath army and Hizbullah positions in the so-called East Ghouta area.

The largest number of tunnels was reported in Jobar. The sources said the rebels exploited their knowledge of the sewage system to attack behind enemy lines.

“The tunnels have allowed the rebels to conduct painful attacks on regime forces,” a source said.

The tunnel war in East Ghouta was said to have begun in April 2014 in
wake of the Army and Hizbullah capture of Qalamoun near the Lebanese border.
Days after the operation, Hizbullah sent hundreds of troops to East Ghouta
to eliminate the rebel presence that blocked Damascus from southern Syria.

After weeks of raids, Hizbullah was said to have failed to dislodge
major rebel strongholds from East Ghouta. The sources said the militias used
tunnels to repel 35 Hizbullah and army attacks since mid-April.

“As a result, the Syrian Air Force has been called in to bomb
neighborhoods under rebel control,” the source said.

The sources said the tunnels also served as operations centers for the
rebels, including the Islamic Front and Al Qaida’s Nusra Front for the
Defense of the Levant. They said the tunnels protected rebel operations from
air force attacks.

The rebels were said to have dug three tunnels underneath regime
positions that spanned 600 meters. The sources credited these tunnels to the
Army of Islam, led by Saudi-backed commander Zahran Aloush.

  Damascus, East Ghouta, Free Syrian Army, inflict pain, Syrian rebels turn to tunnel war, Syrian rebels use tunnels and sewer system to duck air attacks