U.S. Department of Defense photograph - United States Department of Defense (internet archive)

“Mother of all bombs” dropped on ISIS targets in Afghanistan

U.S. Department of Defense photograph – United States Department of Defense

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. military has dropped America’s largest conventional bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan, according to a CNN report.

A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was dropped around 7:00 p.m. local time Thursday, according to U.S. military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.

The 21,600 pound GBU-43/B is nicknamed the “mother of all bombs”, or MOAB. It’s the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal.

The bomb was dropped on an ISIS tunnel complex in the Nangarhar province by a MC-130 aircraft operated by Air Force Special Operations Command.

Though it was developed during the Iraq War, this is the first time a MOAB has been used in the battlefield, according to U.S. officials.

Damage from the bomb is currently being assessed. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, signed off on the use of the bomb. Authority had to be sought from the head of U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel.

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