Marines uncover large Iraqi rebel bunker complex

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-06-04 06:08pm

June 5, 2005
U.S. Uncovers Vast Hide-Out of Iraqi Rebels
By EDWARD WONG

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 4 - American marines have discovered an elaborate series of underground bunkers used recently by insurgents in central Iraq, with heavy weapons, a kitchen and fresh food, furnished living quarters, showers and even a working air-conditioner, the military said Saturday.

The bunkers were built into an old rock quarry north of the town of Karma, an insurgent stronghold in Anbar Province that lies near the city of Falluja. The bunker system is 558 feet by 902 feet, nearly equal to a quarter of the Empire State Building's office space, making it the largest underground insurgent hide-out to be discovered in at least the past year, if not during the entire war, said Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool, a spokesman for the Second Marine Division.

The military said the bunkers were discovered Thursday around 5 p.m. as part of continuing anti-insurgency operations being conducted in Anbar, a center of the Sunni Arab resistance and an arid province that stretches to Iraq's western border. In the past three days, troops with the Second Marine Division found more than 50 caches of weapons and ammunition in the province. Twelve were discovered in the immediate area of the rock quarry, Captain Pool said in an e-mail interview.

"Marines were out patrolling and looking for weapons caches, when out in the middle of the desert they see a lone building," he said. "They went to go and check it out. In one room there was a large, chest-style electric freezer. The marines moved it and found the hidden entrance to the underground quarry system."

"I can tell you that it is the largest underground system discovered in at least the last year," he added.

Near the building, marines also found evidence of a rifle-training range, including many casings from assault-rifle rounds.

No one was in the bunkers at the time of the raid, Captain Pool said. But the fresh food in the kitchen indicated that insurgents had been there recently. The underground lair had been in use for some time, he said, and was built from one subsection of the quarry.

In one part of the hide-out, troops discovered machine guns, mortars, rockets, artillery rounds, black uniforms, ski masks, compasses, log books, a video camera, night-vision goggles and fully charged satellite phones, Captain Pool said.

The marines were still uncovering "new finds" on Saturday night, the captain said, making it too early to tell exactly what the bunkers were used for or who inhabited them.

The insurgents had apparently installed the creature comforts of home within the hide-out. The complex included four fully furnished living spaces, two showers and an air-conditioner, the military said. Temperatures in the deserts of Anbar can approach a scorching 130 degrees in the summertime.

Decades ago, Saddam Hussein and his aides began building an extensive series of underground bunkers scattered around Iraq. Mr. Hussein hired German engineers in the 1980's to work on these lairs, which included tunnels and chambers beneath palaces in Baghdad and Mosul. It is not known, however, whether the quarry bunker is part of that network.

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Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2005-06-04 06:18pm

I'm sure the Marines on patrol decided to test the AC to make sure it was what it looked like and did a recon on the kitchen to see how the insurgents were eating; while they were waiting for backup and command to get there and secure the instalation.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-06-04 06:23pm

Knife wrote:I'm sure the Marines on patrol decided to test the AC to make sure it was what it looked like and did a recon on the kitchen to see how the insurgents were eating; while they were waiting for backup and command to get there and secure the instalation.

And make sure the showers worked.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-06-04 06:24pm

Nothing tests a fully-charged satellite phone like a few calls to the folks back home .....

Mitth`raw`nuruodo · Post by **Mitth`raw`nuruodo** » 2005-06-04 06:36pm

I wouldn't doubt that the soliders who found that stuff "liberated" some of it, and hell.. they probably deserve it.

But what I wanna know is; when was that stuff last used by the Iraqis? It doesn't seem like anyone was in there when they found it..

Post by **Coyote** » 2005-06-04 07:08pm

Hidden carefully and camouflaged near the town of Karma, huh? Must've been a "Karma Chameleon".

Huhuhuh.... yeah.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-06-04 07:37pm

Mitth`raw`nuruodo wrote:I wouldn't doubt that the soliders who found that stuff "liberated" some of it, and hell.. they probably deserve it.

But what I wanna know is; when was that stuff last used by the Iraqis? It doesn't seem like anyone was in there when they found it..

Probably within the last few weeks, if they found fresh food in the kitchen.

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2005-06-04 08:43pm

Coyote wrote:Hidden carefully and camouflaged near the town of Karma, huh? Must've been a "Karma Chameleon".

Huhuhuh.... yeah.

The rebels probably come and go... come and goooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Sorry. I don't know what came over me. I must have Boy George syndrome.