"Please don't film!" one fighter says, as two rebels argue in the pitch black over the presence of a journalist. In this increasingly violent war the rebels have been using their local knowledge to great advantage. And these 3,000 year old caves are of huge strategic importance. "The army besieged us many times and we always slipped through." But local knowledge will only go so far and the rebels are hard pressed to counter the might of the Syrian army with limited resources. As one failed test run of a home-made mortar shows, they don't have much to work with. They are disheartened by months of fighting without help. "America and Europe hide behind the Russian veto. They lie to us." Even the head of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al-Assad, is unable to help. As rebel groups come to him for guidance he can only encourage coordination. When asked about the suicide bomb that killed the minister of defence he says, "This is an integral part of the revolutionary action. It could break the regime's back." As things get increasingly desperate, anything that hastens the end of the bloodshed in Syria will form a part of their strategy.