U.S. Drops 'Mother Of All Bombs' On ISIS Target In Afghanistan

function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); U.S. forces used their largest non-nuclear bomb for the first time in combat on Thursday, striking Islamic State militants in Afghanistans Nangarhar province around 7:30 p.m. local time.The strike was carried out as part of ongoing efforts to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017, according to a U.S. Central Command press release.The military objective was to drop the bomband get it over and done with and get the ISIS forces killed off, Barbara Starr, CNNs Pentagon correspondent, said.The bomb used is a GBU-43 or Massive Ordnance Air Blast, commonly referred to as the mother of all bombs. It contains 11 tons of explosives, according to The Associated Press.It was chosen in an effort to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities, the CENTCOM press release says.As ISIS-Ks losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense, Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in the release. This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K.The bomb targeted a system with tunnels and caves making it easier for [ISIS] to target U.S. military advisers and Afghan forces in the area, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday. We must deny them operational space, which we did. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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