Hamas Tunnels and the Vietcong Tunnel Nightmare
Vietcong tunnels during the Vietnam War against America. Photo: NDTV
- The battle between Israel and Hamas is an unequal battle based on numbers and sophistication of weapons. However, Hamas has an interesting force, namely tunnels.
The tunnel, nicknamed 'Gaza Metro', made by Hamas, is used as a weapons distribution system and troop movement. It was from this tunnel that Hamas reportedly obtained, managed and sent its weapons supplies to all troops, as reported by NDTV.
Tunnels in various shapes and technologies have been used in warfare for centuries. Since the 66th century until the Jewish rebellion against the Romans, the Vietcong in the Vietnam War to Al Qaeda during the Afghanistan War.
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Vietcong tunnel
In facing an enemy who used tunnels as a support for fighting, America had an interesting experience in Vietnam.
During the 20 years of the Vietnam War, the Vietcong used their tunnels for various things. Starting from attacking US troops with 'hit and run' tactics through tunnels, building protective shelters to acting as a trap for US troops.
Vietcong troops built tunnels under US troop camps, the largest of which was in Cu Chi. After that they carried out an attack and disappeared without being detected.
Another reason the Vietcong built the tunnel apart from being an infrastructure to support attacks was to avoid surveillance from US helicopters. Because of this tactic, the US had to build a 'Tunnel Rats' unit whose task was to find Vietcong hideouts underground.
Even Vietcong soldiers could hide, train, and move from one area to another without being detected. Vietcong guerrillas would hide in these tunnels, emerge to ambush the enemy, then return undetected.
A diagram of one of the tunnels shows the sophisticated network of wells, water systems, storage areas and death traps in such a tunnel. Having been bombed repeatedly but still difficult to destroy, the US finally deployed troops into it to fight directly.
Al Qaeda-style tunnels
When the US carried out Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan after the attack on the World Trade Center, the US failed to capture the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden.
The reason was the tunnel which had apparently been prepared for Osama to escape to Pakistan. This escape occurred during the Battle of Tora Bora.
The tunnel network whose construction Bin Laden oversaw also played an important role during the Soviet Union-Afghanistan war when Bin Laden turned it into a formidable fortress. Relentless US airstrikes and even a 15,000 kg bomb, known as the Daisy Cutter, could not stop Bin Laden from escaping Tora Bora.
In the end, Osama managed to live a fairly safe life around Pakistan, before being killed in a Navy Seals operation in 2011.