Inside Islamic State’s underground lair

HIDDEN underground, a labyrinth of tunnels and caves allowed IS extremists to stay undetected. Now it’s been unearthed.

AN UNDERGROUND lair used by IS fighters to wage jihad has been unearthed under a city in Iraq.

The chilling network of caves — hidden by a mattress — allowed extremists to move around without being spotted by security forces.

Bullets, computer equipment and supplies were found stashed in the tunnels where bomb-making equipment was also discovered.

The labyrinth, beneath a bombed-out house, was found in Sinjar, Iraq, just days after the city was recaptured from IS militants by Kurdish troops.

Video footage shows armed security forces going into the tunnels which are stacked with sandbags in a bid to prevent them collapsing during bombing raids which pounded the city in recent weeks.

A network of Islamic State tunnels and caves has been found under Iraq.

The network of caves, which run for hundreds of yards, appear to be wired with electricity and also have sleeping quarters where jihadis took shelter before the city eventually fell after relentless bombardment.

Dusty couples of the Koran, as well as medication used to treat injured fighters, were also discovered.

Kurdish force commander Shamo Eado said up to 40 tunnels had been unearthed beneath Sinjar.

He said: “Daesh (IS) dug these trenches in order to hide from air strikes and have free movement underground as well as to store weapons and explosives.

“This was their military arsenal.”

An Islamic State weapons arsenal and cache of explosives has been unearthed.

Copies of the Koran were also found.

The discovery in Sinjar, where thousands were massacred and forced into slavery when it was captured by IS last year, comes as militants have reportedly begun building a network of tunnels and defensive bunkers around Raqqa in Syria.

Militants are working to fortify the terror outfit’s de facto capital in preparation for a bombardment by international military forces in the wake of the Paris attacks, which IS has claimed credit for.

Immediately after the terrorist atrocities in its capital, French military forces dropped 22 bombs on IS targets in a single retaliatory operation.

The group has responded with a strategy to bunker down in Raqqa, aiming to officially separate its stronghold from the rest of the world.

IS has also upped its conscription efforts in Raqqa, demanding all people over the age of 14 register with the terror group, as well as cutting off public internet access for residents — a move particularly unpopular with foreign fighters.

The call follows the bombardment of Raqqa and its outskirts by France and Russia in retaliation for the Paris attacks and the bombing of a Russian Metrojet passenger plane by Islamic State. Allied attacks are believed to have killed at least 33 IS fighters in three days of air strikes last week.

Associated Press reports the group has responded to the Syrian assault by preventing citizens from leaving Raqqa in order to use them as “human shields”.

- This story originally appeared in The Sun

A security official enters the tunnel.

Originally published as Inside Islamic State’s underground lair