Weapon known as the \u201cmother of all bombs\u201d killed 36 IS militants and destroyed their base: Afghan Defence Ministry
\nMonitoring Desk
\nA US military strike with a weapon known as the \u201cmother of all bombs\u201d (MOAB) killed 36 IS militants and destroyed their base, the Afghan defence ministry says.
\nThe most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever used by the US in combat was dropped on IS tunnels in Nangarhar province.
\nNo civilians were affected by the explosion, the ministry said.
\nFormer Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as \u201can inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country\u201d.
\nChief Executive of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah confirmed that the attack had been carried out in co-ordination with the government and that \u201cgreat care had been taken to avoid civilian harm\u201d.
\nIn a press briefing on Friday, Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said: \u201cWe have US forces at the site and we see no evidence of civilian casualties nor have there been reports.\u201d
\nThe Afghan defence ministry said the bomb struck a village area in the Momand valley where IS fighters were using a 300m-long network of caves.
\nIt said the 21,600lb (9,800kg) bomb also destroyed a large stash of weapons.
\nPresidential spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazawi told the international media that IS commander Siddiq Yar was among those killed. Mr Murtazawi said the IS fighters in the tunnels had \u201ccome from Pakistan and were persecuting people in the local area\u201d.
\nThe GBU-43\/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb was dropped by plane in Achin district on Thursday evening local time, the Pentagon said.
\nMore than 9m (30 ft) in length, it was first tested in 2003 but had not been deployed in combat before.
\nGen Nicholson said it was \u201cthe right weapon against the right target\u201d and \u201cit was the right time to use the GBU-43 tactically\u201d.
\nHe added: \u201cLet me be clear – we will not relent in our mission to destroy [IS in Afghanistan]… There will be no sanctuary for terrorists in Afghanistan.\u201d
\nAchin district governor Ismail Shinwary told the BBC that Afghan special forces, with the help of American air support, had begun anti-IS operations in the area 13 days ago.
\nHe said IS targets had been bombed regularly but \u201clast night\u2019s bombarding was very powerful… the biggest I have ever seen\u201d.
\nNangarhar Provincial Governor Gulab Mangal said IS fighters had used the complex to \u201ckill people and hold important meetings\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Weapon known as the \u201cmother of all bombs\u201d killed 36 IS militants and destroyed their base: Afghan Defence Ministry Monitoring Desk A US military strike with a weapon known as the \u201cmother of all bombs\u201d (MOAB) killed 36 IS militants and destroyed their base, the Afghan defence ministry says. The most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n