"MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS" U.S. STRIKES ISIS STRONGHOLD IN AFGHANISTAN WITH MOAB.

GBU-43 OR THE MASSIVE ORDINANCE AIR BLAST, NICKNMAED MOTHER OF ALL BOMB.

The bomb which was formally known as GBU-43 or MASSIVE ORDINANCE AIR BLAST, was developed in 2003.

The U.S. military dropped the 22,000-pound GBU-43-43 bomb nicknamed "the mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S., on Thursday as they target the ISIS cave complex in eastern Afghanistan.

 It is the first time the bomb, developed in the early days of the Iraq war, has been used in combat.
According to the U.S/Afghanistan forces in a statement released on Thursday,

"At 7:32 p.m. local time today, U.S. Forces/Afghanistan conducted a strike on an ISIS-K tunnel complex in Achin district, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, as part of ongoing efforts to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017, the strike used a GBU-43 bomb dropped from a U.S. aircraft, the strike was designed 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."

ISIS-K refers to ISIS-Khorasan, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan that mainly operates in the eastern part of the country.

 As the ISIS Strengthen their defence with the use of IEDs, bunkers and tunnels, Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of U.S/Afghanistan forces, said that this is right munition to be used to break their defences and weaken them.

"As ISIS-K's losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defence, this is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K."

 "U.S. forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike. U.S. forces will continue offensive operations until ISIS-K is destroyed in Afghanistan."  the military said.

President Donald Trump confirmed the authorization for the strike in Afghanistan, he said,

“Everybody knows exactly what happened, and what I do is I authorize my military, we’ve given them total authorization, frankly, that’s why they’ve been so successful lately,”

 

He said recent weeks stand in contrast to the last eight years under former President Barack Obama.

 

The bomb is so large that it is carried in the cargo hold of the aircraft then rolled out the plane's rear door toward its target. The bomb was dropped from the rear of an MC-130 aircraft, it was described as, the right weapon, the right target, the desired effect.

 

photo credit: bing.com