WATCH: IS monitors Peshmerga through underground tunnel

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Thursday discovered a nine-meter-long underground tunnel built by the Islamic State (IS) to monitor Peshmerga movements.

A Kurdistan24 crew filmed the tunnel IS had been using to monitor the Peshmerga through their cameras.

On Monday, the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the military operation to liberate Mosul.

Over 4,000 Peshmerga soldiers participated in the offensive, and within the first day of the operation, they freed nine villages in eastern Mosul.

Peshmerga discovered weapons and bombs, computers and other electronic gadgets, food and kitchen stuff inside the tunnel, Afsana Shamohamadi of Kurdistan24 reported.

They also found notes and receipts that decided which fighters would spend how much time in the tunnel that had several entrances.

Nineteen IS fighters were reportedly hidden inside the tunnels. Ten of them died on the spot when Peshmerga found them and the remaining nine burnt tires to obscure the view.

Digging underground tunnels has been one of the most common military tactics used by the IS.

The following video shows one of the tunnels belonging to the jihadist group in Big Badan village where IS militants moved through to prevent the US-led coalition warplanes targeting them.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany