US uses its largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan against ISIS

The US Department of Defense announced on Thursday that the US military has used its largest non-nuclear bomb to target an ISIS position in Afghanistan, an action that President Trump called a "successful mission."

The Associated Press quoted Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump as saying that this is the first time that this powerful bomb, called the GBU-43, which contains 11 tons of explosives, has been used in a military operation.

This bomb is known as the "Mother of All Bombs."

According to Mr. Stump, the bomb was dropped on a network of caves in Achin district of Nangarhar province, near the border with Pakistan, where ISIS fighters are believed to have been operating.

Hours after the news broke, US President Donald Trump called today's operation "another successful mission" and, when asked if he had ordered the attack, said he had given the military full authority and they were doing what they had to do.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer earlier said in his daily press briefing that the ISIS group was freely using this network of tunnels and caves in the region for its activities, adding, "To defeat that group, we must take away all the spaces for their activities."

The US military headquarters in Kabul previously said in a statement that the bomb was dropped on the intended target at 7:32 p.m. local time on Thursday by an MC-130 transport aircraft.

According to General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, the attack was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and American forces operating in the area, while maximizing ISIS casualties and destroying the group's facilities.

The US Department of Defense developed the bomb in the early 2000s and went through a formal legal process to legally justify its use in military operations.

Source: Voice of America