In the ongoing fight against terror and terrorist organizations, the USA might just have dealt a significant blow on terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.
Earlier, the United States dropped what is being called the ‘Mother of all Bombs’ (MOAB), (it actually means massive ordinance air blast), on an area of eastern Afghanistan known to be populated by Isis-affiliated militants.
The bomb– which is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat by the USA weighs a mindboggling 21,000 pounds.
According to the Pentagon, the strike was the first time the 21,000lb weapon had been used in combat operations.
According to British newspaper, the Independent, a spokesperson for the US Department of Defence confirmed that a MC-130 aircraft dropped a GBU-43 bomb at 7 pm local time
Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said the bomb was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by fighters affiliated to Isis in the Achin district of Nangarhar, close to the border with Pakistan.
The mission had been in the planning stages for months, the Pentagon said in a separate statement. However, they “did not have the information” on whether the mission was being planned during the previous Obama administration.
In a written statement, US Army General John W Nicholson, commander of the country’s forces in Afghanistan, that the strike was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the Achin area “while maximising the destruction” of Isis fighters and facilities.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the US had used a “large, powerful and accurately-delivered weapon” to disrupt the movements of militants in the country.