The United States have just dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb at their disposal in eastern Afghanistan, which is densely populated by militants of the Islamic State, reports the Independent. The Pentagon has confirmed that the 9,500 kilogram heavy bomb was used for the attack which the US Air Force called "the Mother of all bombs."
A Pentagon spokesman for the Independent said the aircraft MC-130 dropped a GBU-43 bomb at 7 pm local time.
First time it was used in combat
This is the first time that the "mother of all bombs" was used in the war, and the usage was approved by US General John Nicholson.
The security situation in Afghanistan is still uncertain. General John Nicholson, commander of US international forces in Afghanistan, said that the bomb was dropped on a system of caves and bunkers in which fighters of the Islamic state in Afghanistan are placed. It is not known how much damage it produced.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer has begun informing the public about these weapons. He said that the United States "aimed at systems of tunnels and caves in which fighters of the Islamic state are allowed to move freely."
Last week, in the same district, an American soldier was killed by a bomb while conducting an operation against the Islamic state. "The United States takes seriously the fight against IS, and to defeat this group we have to take away their operating space, which we did," said Spicer.
He revealed that the bomb, which he described as "a large, powerful and precision-guided" weapon was dumped at around 7 pm local time. He added that this is the United States' way of showing that they will take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage.
US takes the fight against IS very seriously
US intelligence officials report that information suggests that the militants of the Islamic State in Afghanistan are located mostly in Nangarhar and neighboring Kunar province. US officials estimate that in this Central Asian country there are roughly 700 fighters of the Islamic State, while Kabul is considered to have roughly around 1500 fighters. The Afghan Taliban are also fighting against the Islamic State while trying to overthrow the government in Kabul, which is supported by the United States.
