At least 36 Islamic State militants were killed in eastern Afghanistan when the US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat.
According to the Afghan Defence Ministry, there were no civilian casualties and that several ISIS caves and ammunition caches were destroyed.
Hakim Khan, 50, a resident of Achin district where the attack took place, welcomed the attack on ISIS, saying, "I want 100 times more bombings on this group."
The US military had on Thursday dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, also known as the ‘mother of all bombs’, in eastern Afghanistan on a series of caves used by militants of Islamic State.
The 9,525 kg bomb was dropped in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. The Pentagon confirmed the use of the MOAB, and was assessing damage.
NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan also confirmed the strike and said that US Forces-Afghanistan conducted the strike on a ISIS tunnel complex in Achin district as part of ongoing efforts to defeat the group in Afghanistan.
The Air Force developed the MOAB in 2003, but it had never been used in combat until on Thursday. The use of the bomb comes as the US involvement in Afghanistan heads into its 16th year in the fall, and days after a US Special Forces operator was killed in the same region.
