In Syria, they found underground fighters' shelters. These are well-equipped strongholds that were evidently built by professional engineers. The bunkers were used for both warfare and filming videos about the Syrian Army allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians.
Alexander Bilibov is reporting.
These tunnels, taller than a man and wide enough for a car to drive through, are hundreds of meters deep, and it's just a part of the underground that the Syrian soldiers managed to seize. The rest is armed with mines. An intelligence report let the Syrian Army know that Jabhat Al-Nusra fighters have a well-secured stronghold near the town of Khan Shaykhun. But anyone could hardly have imagined the actual scale of the fighters' fortifications carved in these sandstone rocks. The ceiling and walls are paved with concrete, while the self-leveling floor hides the wiring. It's clear that it's not just another cave where terrorists hid but a fundamental structure that made it possible to live autonomously for a long time.
A large delegation of experts and journalists from Russia recently managed to visit the newly-liberated areas of Syria. It's their unique opportunity to see it with their own eyes and make their own opinion of what happened in the south of the Idlib province and who opposed the divisions of the Syrian Army.
Dmitry Kulikov, journalist: "Look, it's a serious household. They have a kitchen, a utility room, water supply, everything is first class, like in a hotel. So, it's evident that they planned to live here for a long time, or maybe even forever. But they had to flee".
In a day, Syrian de-mining experts can cover only a few dozens of meters through these corridors. They have many months of work here. According to the estimation by military officials, the underground shelter covers more than 10,000 sq. meters (107,500 sq. feet).
At the other end of Khan Shaykhun, several kilometers from the first stronghold, the fighters built another one that is even larger. This underground hosted not just fighters with the Al-Nusra Front but also those responsible for the radicals' information war. Within these walls, they filmed one of the videos of the notorious White Helmets organization about the alleged chemical attack by government forces in the town of Khan Shaykhun in April of 2017. Syrian soldiers found this place just a few days ago, but they already have several curious findings. The most interesting one among them is this hazmat suit. Judging by its label, it was manufactured in November of 2004 and was imported here from Great Britain. Apart from the White Helmets' movie prop, an enormous amount of arms and ammunition was found. Colonel of the Syrian Army Abdul Karim Meinhun is showing what they found in just half a day.
Abdul Karim Meinhun, Colonel: "This is the fighters' gear: here's a helmet, here's the uniforms. Here an ammunition belt for a heavy machine gun and a gas mask. As you can see, it's nothing like a hospital for civilians, it's a real underground base for fighters".
To dig this shelter, they needed to make a truly titanic effort. It's obvious that it wasn't just POWs and civilians captured by the fighters worked here, but professional builders and engineers as well, most likely foreigners. They also had cutting-edge tunneling equipment that is impossible to find in Syria. It was supplied from abroad.
Sergey Mikheev, politics expert, TV-host: "Most of all, I was surprised by a room that featured threats in broken Russian written on the walls apparently addressed to those fighting terrorism, to the Russian and Syrian armies. They say, "We will drink your blood." In broken Russian language. What does it mean? That our operation here was, to say the least, not useless. When our servicemen say that here they are fighting terrorism that can come to us, they are absolutely right".
Nobody still has any doubts that it's international terrorist groups that fight in Syria. If we don't stop it now, later, the radicals will return to their home countries. Many of them come from post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. They will continue doing what they were doing here back at home, spreading terror and violence over their own countries.
Alexander Bilibov, Sergey Eliseev, and Andrey Yurchuk, Vesti from Khan Shaykhun, Syria.
