Syrian army finds arms storage tunnel in Homs

Syrian army finds arms storage tunnel in Homs
Tue Jul 9, 2013 20:34:32

Syrian army has found a tunnel in Homs dug by militants to store ammunition, seizing a huge amount of weapons, Al Alam reports.

Al Alam reporter said Tuesday that the army has concentrated its operations in the older neighborhoods of the strategic city of Homs where militants benefit from the more congested urban texture to attack the army and also use residents as human shields.

Reporting from Homs, Roa al-Ali said operations continued in al-Khalediye, Bab al-Hawa and Jour al-Shayah neighborhoods and units of soldiers were searching the whole area door-by-door to capture militants and release civilian hostages.

The army managed to get closer to the Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque which has turned to a main base for insurgents who had infiltrated the town throughout the two-year old foreign-sponsored conflict in the country.

The operations have been successful in Homs so far and a high number of insurgents are fleeing to neighboring suburbs of al-Qasour and al-Qarabys, Al Alam reporter said.

She added a 500 meters long tunnel was discovered during the operation which connected Bab al-Hawa to Jour al-Shayah and was used as an storage for arms and other equipments by militants.

The Syrian army has been advancing apace in Homs, looking to break a lengthy stalemate in the city, which has been the scene of fierce fighting over the past year.

The two sides have been trading artillery fire in Homs for months, but the army started an all-out operation on May 30th to purge the city from foreign-backed militants.

In retaliation of army advancements in Homs, militants tried to compensate their losses by targeting civilian areas.

Syrian media reported on Monday that two bombs went off in Ekrima neighborhood of the city, which is controlled by the Syrian army.

Crisis in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government boosts its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.

Washington has remained indifferent about warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.

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