Syrian troops use an original method of dealing with snipers and fgihters of militant groups barricaded in buildings. They dig underground passages and blow up militants with buildings.
The Syrian Arab Army’s Republican Guard has published videos showing the work of sappers in Jobar, a municipality of the Syrian capital Damascus.
The Syrian soil is very dense and solid. This is why Syrian troops have to use hacks for making the tunnels. Tunnel vaults are very strong and they can’t collapse, This allows to not use pillars. The soil that was taken out should be raised to the surface, sometimes from a depth of 10 meters. Then explosives take its place.
The process of making underground passages is a hard work, but its efficiency is up to 100%.
Syrian sappers take a group photo on the background of the ruins, arrange a dinner party and dance in the new tunnels after every successful explosion.
digging tunnels is too difficult, why don’t bomb the building?
Undermining has been used for ages against heavily fortified targets, wich couldn’t be destroyed/penetrated by other means – for the last time on large scale in ww1, due to the entrenched static warfare.
I know, but know you have fast er options
But more expensive. Also conventional bombs only work up to a point. They could literally drop a FAB-500 on top of a designated terrorist HQ but it won’t to anything as the building is already covered in so much dirt, concrete and crushed bricks(and other structural strenghtening?). Undermining, however, will make anything on top of it collapse.
Putting explosive charges on the structural supports (good energy transfer due to direct contact) would do, but first you have to get there – hence the underground route. An air explosion would likely kill the inhabitants due to the shock wave, but energy transfer is poor, and the structure has good chances to survive. A penetrating bomb would be a quicker solution (needs aircraft, precise targeting, and guidance, etc.), but collateral damage is hard to control in dense environments. The most efficient, cheap, and secure way is still undermining – especially if you have the necessary time available. Any countertunneling ops?
Undermining is very effective in situations such as these… hard work but very effective. Good work SAA
Digging duties should be relegated to prisoners.