US drops 'mother of all bombs' on Islamic State

A GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) weapon, on display at the Air Force Armament Museum on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida. File picture: Northwest Florida Daily News via AP

A GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) weapon, on display at the Air Force Armament Museum on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida. File picture: Northwest Florida Daily News via AP

Published Apr 13, 2017

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Washington - The United States dropped a

massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever

used in combat, in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday against a

series of caves used by Islamic State militants, the military

said.

It was the first time the United States has used this size

of bomb in a conflict. It was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft in

the Achin district of Nangarhar province, close to the border

with Pakistan, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said.

Also known as the "mother of all bombs," the GBU-43 is a

21,600 pound (9,797 kg) GPS-guided munition and was first tested

in March 2003, just days before the start of the Iraq war.

General John Nicholson, the head of U.S. and international

forces in Afghanistan, said the bomb was used against caves and

bunkers housing fighters of the Islamic State in Afghanistan,

also known as ISIS-K.

“This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and

maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K,”

Nicholson said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how much damage the bomb did. 

Reuters

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