The area of the interior of the cave was about 100 square meters
HAMA PROVINCE, / Syria/, May 19. /TASS/. The Russian and Syrian military destroyed another underground catacombs of terrorists in the province of Hama with the help of their own ammunition left during the retreat in 2019 in the caches of the city of Kafr Zayty, Lieutenant Colonel of the engineering service of the Russian Armed Forces Anton Timofeev told reporters.
"Caches of ammunition that we find, we take to the cave. Now the Syrian sappers will lay down ammunition and destroy the cave, so that in the future the militants and illegal armed groups can not use it in any way, " Timofeev said.
The complex of the catacombs of the militants was completely destroyed. The area of the interior of the cave was about 100 square meters.
Syrian government forces recaptured the town of Kafr Zayta from illegal armed groups in 2019. To date, the city has few residents. It is littered with the rubble of destroyed buildings. There may be unexploded ordnance at every turn. Mine clearance of the settlement is carried out by Syrian sappers.
"We found all this in this house and the buildings that are nearby. We continue to mine the city so that local residents can return here, " a sapper of the Syrian army shows the found ammunition to Russian journalists. In the cache of terrorists-dozens of mines of 120 and 150 mm caliber, homemade rockets, artillery shells. The Syrian sappers put the ammunition in a truck and take it out of the city, where they transfer the mines and shells to the abandoned underground shelters of the militants for their subsequent destruction. In such catacombs, the militants live, hold prisoners, treat their wounded and plan sabotage attacks. The shelters have running water, ventilation, water supplies, in some cases electricity and Internet.
"These caves were used by the militants as living quarters or headquarters. Here you can see from the rooms that there were rooms for recreation, for work. And, as you can see, sometimes prisoners were held here. In this cave, too, there is a sewer, literally at the exit from it I saw that there is a drain well. There are also traces of electrical equipment on the ceiling, " Lieutenant Colonel Timofeev told reporters before the catacombs were destroyed.
Hometown
An elderly man, Rida-Khaled, is one of the few residents of Kafer Zayta today. He recently returned to his hometown. He spent several years in prison in Idlib, where he was thrown by terrorists for refusing to convince his son-a Syrian army officer-not to fight against terrorists.
"Kafr Zayta is my city, my home, you know? The militants threatened to hang me. I could have died in prison many times. But the Lord wanted me to come home, " he tells reporters.
Everything was taken out of Reed-Khaled's house, it was looted and partially destroyed by shells, there is no electricity. The water is brought in tanks, he pours it into the tank on the roof. The militants pulled out the furniture and equipment, there is only an old bed that he found in the ruins of the city. He does not go to his son in Homs, because he does not want to be a burden.
Despite injuries, including a stiff knee, Rida-Khaled grows vegetables in the garden and tries to repair the broken walls of the house.
Now he has new neighbors - there are already 25 families in Kafr Zayt. The townspeople are again cultivating fields, olive and pistachio groves, but only where the sappers have already worked carefully.
