Airstrikes compel ISIL to construct 'underground city' in al-Raqa

In an attempt to shelter themselves from airstrikes by international coalition aircraft, "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) elements continue to construct underground tunnels in Syria's al-Raqa.

Eye witnesses in the province who spoke with Al-Shorfa recently said ISIL is digging a network of underground tunnels and bunkers in the cities of al-Raqa and al-Tabqa, forcing prisoners it is holding to do the work.

Hamad al-Matar, a street vendor and resident of al-Raqa who preferred to use a pseudonym out of fear for his safety, told Al-Shorfa that upon his arrest by ISIL elements in late 2015 for being late to prayer, he was taken to al-hesba ("religious police") station and given a 15-day prison sentence.

The following morning, he was taken to an area that he "could not identify because the windows of the transport vehicle in which I and four others were being transported were blacked out, but was not far from the city centre judging by the short time it took to get there," al-Matar said.

"We were disembarked directly into the entrance of a house where we climbed down a ladder to underground chambers in which we were forced to dig for 10 hours non-stop," he said.

The same happened every day throughout his detention, he added.

Al-Matar learned from other prisoners that ISIL was forcing its detainees to build a network of underground tunnels and chambers to protect its fighters from airstrikes.

'Underground city'

Qasim al-Khatib, member of the Secretariat General of al-Ghad al-Soury (Syria Tomorrow) movement and native of al-Raqa, told Al-Shorfa that it has been confirmed via activists opposed to the group in the region that ISIL is building a network of underground tunnels in al-Tabqa.

ISIL allegedly removed local residents from a housing compound and "proceeded to house its elements and their families in them, then began digging a network of tunnels underneath that area", he said.

The underground tunnel networks cover an area of 2.5 square kilometres, he said, and include "chambers used as living quarters for ISIL elements to shelter from airstrikes", as well as a field hospital and prison cells.

Al-Khatib said that an activist who was arrested four times by the group for various reasons before fleeing Syria to Turkey, told him that "ISIL has in fact built another underground city".

It was likely dug by Syrians detained by ISIL "who were put to forced labor by the group to dig trenches and tunnels", he added.

Ongoing since 2015

These eyewitness accounts reflect earlier media reports published in 2015 that uncovered similar ISIL activities.

According to a September 27th, 2015 report published on the "Al-Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" campaign's website, al-Tabqa resident Abu Mohammed said he was arrested by ISIL for smoking, and the punishment meted out to him and a number of other detainees was to dig underground chambers reinforced with concrete and iron.

"The last task I did before my release was to move furniture from one of the houses into these underground chambers, which are accessed via slanted tunnels and are fully equipped, including with water supply," he said.

The report quoted another detainee, named Abu Abdullah, who said the digging was carried out by not only detainees but also workers hired by the group.

Also in November 2015, the French newspaper Le Point quoted eye witnesses as saying that ISIL was digging tunnels in the city of al-Raqa to hide from airstrikes.

Tunnels will not 'fully protect ISIL'

"ISIL resorting to digging tunnels in al-Raqa is not new as the group had previously used the same tactic in other areas under its control, such as the cities of Mosul and Fallujah in Iraq, as confirmed by several media outlets," said retired Egyptian army officer Maj. Gen. Yahya Mohammed Ali.

"An extensive network of tunnels was also discovered by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units [YPG] in the city of Tel Abyad near the border with Turkey when they liberated the area," he told Al-Shorfa.

"Similar networks were also confirmed to exist in the city of Jarablus, which is still under the group’s control," he added.

It might be difficult to pinpoint the location of these tunnels, he said, but it is likely that the tunnels are under rocky terrain because sandy areas require a greater deal more material, such as concrete and iron, to reinforce.

The latest types of missiles that can penetrate rock and concrete could easily destroy the tunnels if their location is accurately identified, so "these tunnels will not fully protect ISIL elements from airstrikes", he said.