Tunnel warfare
Encyclopedia
Tunnel warfare is a type of war
fare that occurs in tunnel
s.
It can be sometimes linked with urban warfare
, as tunnels are often found in urban area and cities
, although urban warfare as a whole usually dominates any tunnel considerations. Tunnels can be used to undermine fortification
s and slip into territory, while it can strengthen a defense
by creating the possibility of ambush
, counterattack
and the ability to transfer troops from one portion of the battleground to another unseen and protected.
Tunnels, due to their nature, restrict fields of fire and thus any troops in a tunnel usually only have a few areas exposed to fire or sight at any one particular time. Also they can be part of an extensive labyrinth
and have cul-de-sac
s as well as reduced lighting
that can create a closed-in night environment.
crumble, allowing the Russia
ns to take it. The only countermeasure was to dig down, intercept the mine, and fight the advancing enemy soldiers underground. Sometimes the tunnels collapsed during the fighting, and both sides were buried alive.
The oldest known sources about employing tunnels and trenches for guerrilla-like warfare are Roman
. After the uprising in Germania
the insurgent tribes soon started to change defence from only local strongholds into utilising the advantage of wider terrain. Hidden trenches to assemble for surprise attacks were dug, connected via tunnels for secure fallback. In action often barriers were used to prevent the enemy from pursuing.
Roman legion
s entering the country soon learned to fear this warfare, as the ambushing of marching columns caused high casualties. Therefore they approached possibly fortified areas very carefully, giving time to evaluate, assemble troops and organize them. When the Romans were themselves on the defensive the large underground aqueduct
system was utilised in the defence of Rome
, as well as to evacuate fleeing leaders.
A particular use of tunneling was in mining, where tunnels, braced with timber supports, were dug under the fortifications of besieged castles or towns, which when fired would collapse, bringing down the overlying wall.
, cordite
and dynamite
made above ground fortifications very expensive if they should withstand any attack. Fortifications were covered with earth and finally they were built totally underground to protect crews and ammunition. For the purpose of firing, artillery
and machine gun
emplacements had loophole
s.
Such a tunnel fortress was difficult to enter and inside there was no room for the attackers to hide from gunfire and explosives. On the other hand poison gas
proved to have a devastating effect.
In trench warfare
with heavily fortified strongholds, the tactic of digging and mining the enemy positions was used in the American Civil War
during the Siege of Petersburg
and the Russo-Japanese War
during the Siege of Port Arthur
. Extensive mining warfare was conducted by German, French, British and Australian troops on the Western Front
during World War I
, where the largely static frontlines created favourable conditions for mining.
The largest mining operations were conducted in the Battle of Messines
, where specialist Royal Engineer tunnelling companies
placed 22 mines under German
lines. 19 were eventually exploded, killing about 10,000 German soldiers. Underground attacks especially broke the morale of the enemy if he was surprised in his secure positions. However, the huge craters that are the results of mining enemy positions could be obstacles during an advance, as was found at Petersburg Battle of the Crater
and the Somme. Tunnels built to secure frontline supply were built in several places on the Western Front.
On the Eastern Front
, the successful Brusilov Offensive
employed tunnel/trenches to allow the Russian troops to start the initial assault very close to the Austrian trenches. During World War II
, the rapid transit systems
that existed in many cities became another military consideration.
The lessons of these battles led to the construction of even bigger systems of defence underground, like the Maginot line
or the Westwall with their own infrastructures.
North Korea
, it has been claimed, has prepared several transport tunnels with a capacity 10,000 troops per hour for a possible invasion of South Korea
. This melds the defensive tunnel warfare with mobile warfare
.
The term tunnel war or tunnel warfare (地道战) was first used for the guerrilla tactic employed by the Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese War
. The tunnel systems were fast and easy to construct and enabled a small force to successfully fight superior enemies.
, the Chinese Communist forces or local peasant resistance used tunnel war tactics against the Japanese (and later Kuomingtang during Chinese Civil War
). The tunnels were dug beneath the earth to cover the battlefield with numerous hidden gun holes to make a surprise attack. The holes and entrance usually were hidden beneath a straw mat inside a house, or down a well. This allowed flexible manoeuver or exit.
However, the main disadvantages of tunnel war is that usually the Japanese could fill up the holes or pour water in to suffocate the resistance fighter inside the tunnels. This proved to be a major problem but was later solved by installing filters that will consume the water and poisonous gases. It is said that there were even women and children who voluntarily fought in the tunnels.
ese themselves. In the battles of the Western Pacific they would maximise their capabilities by establishing a strong point defense, utilizing cave warfare. The first encounter of the US Marines with this new tactic was the island of Peleliu
. The invading marines suffered twice as many casualties as on Tarawa
, where the old Japanese tactic of defending the beach had been employed. The pinnacle of this form of defense, however, can be found on Iwo Jima
, where the Japanese engineered the whole Mount Suribachi with many tunnels leading to defensive implacements, or exits for quick counterattacks. Tunnel warfare by the Japanese forced the US Marines to adopt the "blowtorch and corkscrew" tactics to systematically flush out the Japanese defenders, one cave at a time.
In the Korean War
the tactic of tunnel warfare was employed by the Chinese forces themselves. "The Chinese resort to tunnel warfare, and the devastating losses to American soldiers, led to the sealing of tunnel entrances by United Nations Command. According to later prisoner of war
interrogations, Chinese officers had killed a number of their own soldiers in the tunnels, because the latter had wished to dig their way out and surrender to the United Nations Command." (Major Allen D.Reece)
The Viet Cong copied the tactic during the Vietnam War
against the US and their Southern Vietnamese allies and added some new developments. Systems of tunnels were not occupied temporarily for military purpose, but began to contain whole villages of people living permanently underground. An infrastructure of communication, supplylines, hospitals and for manoeuvering was established. These tactics were even applied against the Chinese during the Sino-Vietnamese War
.
The Palestinians have used tunnels in three ways:
1) Tunnels have been dug from the area of the town of Rafiah in the Gaza Strip into the area of Rafiah in Egypt. These tunnels are used to smuggle a wide variety of material into the Gaza Strip - some for civilian use (food, fuel etc) but also a large amount of military supplies - weapons,
ammunition and other military equipment.
2) Tunnels have been dug under Israeli army positions, filled with explosives and exploded.
3) A small number of tunnels were dug under the Gaza - Israel border on order to infiltrate into
Israel. In one such incident in 2006 a tunnel was dug to a hidden position behind an Israeli tank position. At night a Palestinian team came out of the tunnel and fired an anti-tank rocket at the tank, then charged it. The crew was taken by surprise, three Israelis were killed and one was captured and abducted through the tunnel back into Gaza.
The smuggling tunnels are by far the most numerous type because they are economically lucrative
for the diggers, who earn a commission both for the digging and for the materials that pass through
their tunnel.
The Israelis conduct routine counter-tunnel operations in which over the past ten years they have discovered and destroyed hundreds of tunnels of all types.
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
fare that occurs in tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s.
It can be sometimes linked with urban warfare
Urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at both the operational and tactical level...
, as tunnels are often found in urban area and cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, although urban warfare as a whole usually dominates any tunnel considerations. Tunnels can be used to undermine fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s and slip into territory, while it can strengthen a defense
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
by creating the possibility of ambush
Ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
, counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
and the ability to transfer troops from one portion of the battleground to another unseen and protected.
Tunnels, due to their nature, restrict fields of fire and thus any troops in a tunnel usually only have a few areas exposed to fire or sight at any one particular time. Also they can be part of an extensive labyrinth
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...
and have cul-de-sac
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
s as well as reduced lighting
Lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
that can create a closed-in night environment.
Tunnel wars in ancient warfare
Tunneling in order to mine enemy fortresses and make the walls crumble is an ancient military art that has been put in use all over the world. A famous mine made the walls of KazanKazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
crumble, allowing the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns to take it. The only countermeasure was to dig down, intercept the mine, and fight the advancing enemy soldiers underground. Sometimes the tunnels collapsed during the fighting, and both sides were buried alive.
The oldest known sources about employing tunnels and trenches for guerrilla-like warfare are Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. After the uprising in Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
the insurgent tribes soon started to change defence from only local strongholds into utilising the advantage of wider terrain. Hidden trenches to assemble for surprise attacks were dug, connected via tunnels for secure fallback. In action often barriers were used to prevent the enemy from pursuing.
Roman legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
s entering the country soon learned to fear this warfare, as the ambushing of marching columns caused high casualties. Therefore they approached possibly fortified areas very carefully, giving time to evaluate, assemble troops and organize them. When the Romans were themselves on the defensive the large underground aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
system was utilised in the defence of Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, as well as to evacuate fleeing leaders.
Medieval warfare
Tunneling was used throughout the world in the medieval period. Often they connected fortifications, towns, villages, religious and political buildings. They were used for supply, communication and as escape routes.A particular use of tunneling was in mining, where tunnels, braced with timber supports, were dug under the fortifications of besieged castles or towns, which when fired would collapse, bringing down the overlying wall.
Modern warfare
Increased firepower that came with the use of gunpowderGunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
, cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
and dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
made above ground fortifications very expensive if they should withstand any attack. Fortifications were covered with earth and finally they were built totally underground to protect crews and ammunition. For the purpose of firing, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
emplacements had loophole
Loophole
A loophole is a weakness that allows a system to be circumvented.Loophole may also refer to:*Arrowslit, a slit in a castle wall*Loophole , a short science fiction story by Arthur C...
s.
Such a tunnel fortress was difficult to enter and inside there was no room for the attackers to hide from gunfire and explosives. On the other hand poison gas
Poison gas in World War I
The use of chemical weapons in World War I ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas and the severe mustard gas, to lethal agents like phosgene and chlorine. This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century. The killing capacity of...
proved to have a devastating effect.
In trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
with heavily fortified strongholds, the tactic of digging and mining the enemy positions was used in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
during the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
and the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
during the Siege of Port Arthur
Siege of Port Arthur
The Siege of Port Arthur , 1 August 1904 – 2 January 1905, the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula in Manchuria, was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War....
. Extensive mining warfare was conducted by German, French, British and Australian troops on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where the largely static frontlines created favourable conditions for mining.
The largest mining operations were conducted in the Battle of Messines
Battle of Messines
The Battle of Messines was a battle of the Western front of the First World War. It began on 7 June 1917 when the British Second Army under the command of General Herbert Plumer launched an offensive near the village of Mesen in West Flanders, Belgium...
, where specialist Royal Engineer tunnelling companies
Royal Engineer tunnelling companies
Royal Engineer tunnelling companies were specialist units of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army, formed to dig attacking tunnels under enemy lines during the First World War....
placed 22 mines under German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
lines. 19 were eventually exploded, killing about 10,000 German soldiers. Underground attacks especially broke the morale of the enemy if he was surprised in his secure positions. However, the huge craters that are the results of mining enemy positions could be obstacles during an advance, as was found at Petersburg Battle of the Crater
Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the Siege of Petersburg. It took place on July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade The...
and the Somme. Tunnels built to secure frontline supply were built in several places on the Western Front.
On the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
, the successful Brusilov Offensive
Brusilov Offensive
The Brusilov Offensive , also known as the June Advance, was the Russian Empire's greatest feat of arms during World War I, and among the most lethal battles in world history. Prof. Graydon A. Tunstall of the University of South Florida called the Brusilov Offensive of 1916 the worst crisis of...
employed tunnel/trenches to allow the Russian troops to start the initial assault very close to the Austrian trenches. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the rapid transit systems
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
that existed in many cities became another military consideration.
The lessons of these battles led to the construction of even bigger systems of defence underground, like the Maginot line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
or the Westwall with their own infrastructures.
North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, it has been claimed, has prepared several transport tunnels with a capacity 10,000 troops per hour for a possible invasion of South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. This melds the defensive tunnel warfare with mobile warfare
Mobile warfare
*For various forms of wars based on mobility, see Maneuver warfare.*For the specific military methods of Mao Zedong, yundong zhan, see Mobile Warfare....
.
The term tunnel war or tunnel warfare (地道战) was first used for the guerrilla tactic employed by the Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
. The tunnel systems were fast and easy to construct and enabled a small force to successfully fight superior enemies.
Tunnel war usage during Sino-Japanese war
During the Second Sino-Japanese warSecond Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, the Chinese Communist forces or local peasant resistance used tunnel war tactics against the Japanese (and later Kuomingtang during Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
). The tunnels were dug beneath the earth to cover the battlefield with numerous hidden gun holes to make a surprise attack. The holes and entrance usually were hidden beneath a straw mat inside a house, or down a well. This allowed flexible manoeuver or exit.
However, the main disadvantages of tunnel war is that usually the Japanese could fill up the holes or pour water in to suffocate the resistance fighter inside the tunnels. This proved to be a major problem but was later solved by installing filters that will consume the water and poisonous gases. It is said that there were even women and children who voluntarily fought in the tunnels.
Later usage of tunnel war
The first to copy tunnel warfare were the JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese themselves. In the battles of the Western Pacific they would maximise their capabilities by establishing a strong point defense, utilizing cave warfare. The first encounter of the US Marines with this new tactic was the island of Peleliu
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S...
. The invading marines suffered twice as many casualties as on Tarawa
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....
, where the old Japanese tactic of defending the beach had been employed. The pinnacle of this form of defense, however, can be found on Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
, where the Japanese engineered the whole Mount Suribachi with many tunnels leading to defensive implacements, or exits for quick counterattacks. Tunnel warfare by the Japanese forced the US Marines to adopt the "blowtorch and corkscrew" tactics to systematically flush out the Japanese defenders, one cave at a time.
In the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
the tactic of tunnel warfare was employed by the Chinese forces themselves. "The Chinese resort to tunnel warfare, and the devastating losses to American soldiers, led to the sealing of tunnel entrances by United Nations Command. According to later prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
interrogations, Chinese officers had killed a number of their own soldiers in the tunnels, because the latter had wished to dig their way out and surrender to the United Nations Command." (Major Allen D.Reece)
The Viet Cong copied the tactic during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
against the US and their Southern Vietnamese allies and added some new developments. Systems of tunnels were not occupied temporarily for military purpose, but began to contain whole villages of people living permanently underground. An infrastructure of communication, supplylines, hospitals and for manoeuvering was established. These tactics were even applied against the Chinese during the Sino-Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
.
Tunnel war in Israel
Sometimes the ongoing conflict between Israeli Army and Palestinians under the border of Gaza is called tunnel war.The Palestinians have used tunnels in three ways:
1) Tunnels have been dug from the area of the town of Rafiah in the Gaza Strip into the area of Rafiah in Egypt. These tunnels are used to smuggle a wide variety of material into the Gaza Strip - some for civilian use (food, fuel etc) but also a large amount of military supplies - weapons,
ammunition and other military equipment.
2) Tunnels have been dug under Israeli army positions, filled with explosives and exploded.
3) A small number of tunnels were dug under the Gaza - Israel border on order to infiltrate into
Israel. In one such incident in 2006 a tunnel was dug to a hidden position behind an Israeli tank position. At night a Palestinian team came out of the tunnel and fired an anti-tank rocket at the tank, then charged it. The crew was taken by surprise, three Israelis were killed and one was captured and abducted through the tunnel back into Gaza.
The smuggling tunnels are by far the most numerous type because they are economically lucrative
for the diggers, who earn a commission both for the digging and for the materials that pass through
their tunnel.
The Israelis conduct routine counter-tunnel operations in which over the past ten years they have discovered and destroyed hundreds of tunnels of all types.
Famous tunnel war victories
- Ranzhuang in HebeiHebei' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
- Jiaozhuanghu (焦庄户) village that defeated the Japanese Army (later made into the movie Didao ZhanTunnel WarTunnel War , also known as Tunnel Warfare, is a 1965 Chinese film produced before the Cultural Revolution about a small town which defends itself from the Japanese by use of a network of tunnels during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
by the PRCPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
) - Củ Chi tunnels a complex of over 200 km of tunnel systems that allowed NLF guerrillasNational Front for the Liberation of South VietnamThe Vietcong , or National Liberation Front , was a political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War . It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized...
during the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
to keep a large presence relatively close to Saigon.