USA Drops the Biggest Bomb Ever in Afghanistan. Mother of all Bombs
U.S. forces have dropped what is known as the “mother of all bombs” in Afghanistan.
The device is the largest non-nuclear device in the Air Force arsenal, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported. It was dropped in Nangarhar Province, an eastern area near the Pakistan border.
It’s the first time the 21,000-pound ordnance has been used in combat, said Griffin.
The device, developed in 2003 by the U.S. Air Force, is called the M.O.A.B, short for Massive Ordnance Air Blast. It’s often referred to as the “mother of all bombs.”
The attack was launched in an area where a U.S. Green Beret was killed Saturday by small-arms fire while operating against ISIS targets.
Fighting between ISIS and Afghan forces in the region has intensified recently. A U.S. Special Forces soldier advising the Afghans was killed in the area Saturday, the first U.S. combat death this year.
“This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against (the Islamic State),” Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said in statement.
The bomb explodes in the air, creating air pressure that can collapse tunnels and buildings.
“U.S. forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike,” the military said in a statement.
BREAKING: US military drops 21,000-pound non-nuclear bomb — known as the “mother of all bombs” — in Afghanistan https://t.co/EOji2tjxzi pic.twitter.com/VlQNjTRnqa
— CNN (@CNN) April 13, 2017
