- The United States has dropped its largest non-nuclear weapon on terrorists in Afghanistan.
- A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition and each bomb is said to costs around $16 million (£12.8 million) and heavier than the Hiroshima nuclear bomb
- The extent of the damage and whether people were killed is not yet clear
The bomb which is nick named ‘Mother of all Bombs’ was targeted at ISIS network of caves and tunnels in eastern Afghanistan.
We learnt that the U.S. forces used a GPS-guided GBU-43 bomb, which is 30 feet long and weighs a staggering 21,600 pounds.
According to Daily Mail, President Donald Trump said he was 'very, very proud' and called the operation 'really another successful job. We're very, very proud of our military.'
The bomb which is nick named ‘Mother of all Bombs’ was targeted at ISIS a their network of caves and tunnels in eastern Afghanistan
'Everybody knows exactly what happened. What I do is I authorize my military ... We have given them total authorization,' he said.
The GBU-43, described as the 'Mother Of All Bombs' – a play on the 'MOAB' acronym, which stands for 'Massive Ordnance Air Burst' is said to be deployed for the first time.
According to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission, the bomb was dropped at 7:32 pm local time.
"The United States takes the fight against ISIS very seriously and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space, which we did," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said later Thursday. The strike "targeted a system of tunnels and cave that ISIS fighters use to move around freely."
According to CNN sources, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb.
"As ISIS-K's losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Nicholson said in a statement following the strike.
"This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K," Nicholson added.
"US forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike. US Forces will continue offensive operations until ISIS-K is destroyed in Afghanistan," read the statement from US Forces
A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition and each bomb is said to costs around $16 million (£12.8 million) and heavier than the Hiroshima nuclear bomb
However, the extent of the damage and whether people were killed is not yet clear because the military is currently conducting an assessment.
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