Darrya, a town south of Damascus, has been the scene of fierce clashes between the Syrian army and the militants since early 2012.

Although the town has been secured, the army remained vigilant by carrying out constant search operations to prevent the militants’ use of tunnels to ambush the army, as has been seen more than once so far.

“The operation in Darrya has been prolonged by the fact that there was a large number of terrorists, and they are benefiting from hundreds of buildings as they dug tunnels between them to move undetected,” said a Syrian army soldier.

On Wednesday, the army’s search revealed a hideout with loads of weapons including rifles, RPGs as well as ammunition and explosives.

More than 100 rifles along with 200 shells for RPGs were unearthed in addition to explosives, hand grenades, and other ammunition.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011 with foreign-backed militants currently controlling parts of it in the east.

The Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and, Turkey -- are reportedly supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of unrest in the war-ravaged country, says the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling the figure a probable “underestimate of the real total number of people killed.”

NTJ/NJF