ISIS tunnel
The Islamic State group is digging into the ground like rats to avoid US airstrike .
New video suggest they are adopting a technique successfully used by the North Vietnamese to escape US air power. However in this case the terrorists are designing “specialized tunnel systems” to reduce the risk of injury.
One fighter says the tunnels are “curved” to lessen the chances that shrapnel will injure or kill numerous fighters in the event of a missile strike. “These trenches allowed us to give up our houses,” the fighter says, adding that the tunnels are used as break rooms and bedrooms.
Reuters previously reported that ISIS militants are using these “secret desert tunnels to transport fighters, weapons and supplies from western Iraq to Jurf al-Sakhar, a town near the capital in a bid to evade the Iraqi Air Force.”
Tunnels can be used to undermine fortifications and slip into territory, while it can strengthen a defense by creating the possibility of ambush, counterattack and the ability to transfer troops from one portion of the battleground to another unseen and protected. Also they can be part of an extensive labyrinth and have cul-de-sacs as well as reduced lighting that can create a closed-in night environment.
In addition IS militants are concealing targets in order to make it more difficult for Western aircraft to locate and strike them.
IS is also using tactics to evade the coalition’s air superiority. These include using “civilian-type vehicles” instead of tanks, hiding armored vehicles inside buildings or burying them in sand.
See video: Coalition Air strike on ISIS Tunnel – Kirkuk, Iraq – 20.11.2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_94SWWtclqg
See video: ISIS burrowing in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge6GfGHd1k4
See video: Night Operation on ISIS Bunkers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqLo42Y5yQ0
See related Russian video: Massive ISIS Tunnel Network discovered beneath Syrian Soil; Secret ISIS Underground City? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc5uzPFVBgA
See relevant US Army training video: Tunnel warfare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeAPdfg62w8