36 IS militants killed after US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan
The US on Thursday for the first time used what the military calls the “mother of all bombs”, the GBU-43/B to target IS militants hiding in a maze of caves in Afghantistan's hilly terrains.
Designed for destroying underground targets but not itself a deep-earth penetrator weapon, the GBU-43/B has the explosive yield of more than 11 tons of TNT, The Guardian said.
The massive bomb is dropped from air force planes and detonates before reaching the ground, resulting in an enormous air blast over a huge radius.
Army Gen John W Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement that the GBU-43/B was the “right munition” to use against the Islamic State in Khorosan, or Isis-K.
“As Isis-K’s losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense. This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against Isis-K,” Nicholson said.
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