Syrian military uncovers 2,000-foot long rebel tunnel in Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The Syrian military uncovered a sizable rebel-dug tunnel in an eastern suburb of Damascus on Sunday, according to Syrian state media.

The 55-foot deep, 1,968-foot long tunnel was found in Jobar, complete with lighting, ventilation and multiple branches, SANA reports.

After falling to rebel forces in 2013, Jobar came under counter-attack by the Syrian military in September 2014. However, efforts to take the suburb have been slowed due to rebel forces' free movement between positions in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus via a complex tunnel system in the area, Xinhua news agency reports.

Rebel shelling from Jobar is reported to have killed 12 people and wounded 37 others in Damascus on Saturday, while rebel-held areas in eastern parts of the capital are likewise subject to inaccurate barrel bombing attacks by the Syrian air force.

The discovery of the tunnel comes the same day Syrian regime airstrikes reportedly killed more than 80 people in the rebel-held town of Douma, about seven miles from Damascus.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have suffered a series of recent setbacks, notably after being pushed from Idlib province earlier this year and into the edge of Latakia province, heartland of Assad's Alawite sect, earlier this month.

Since beginning in 2011, Syria's civil war has killed more than 240,000 people, 80,000 being Syrian soldiers or pro-government fighters.