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Friday, April 14, 2017

Mother of all bombs 'killed 36 IS militants' in Afghanistan

Thirty-six Islamic State militants were killed when the US dropped the so-called Mother Of All Bombs on a cave complex in Afghanistan.

The strike in the Achin district of Nangahar province was the first time the 21,600lb (9,797kg) GBU-43 bomb, which has 11 tons of explosives, has been used in combat.

The Afghan defence ministry said it laid waste to the caves and ammunition caches but had not caused any civilian casualties.

"No civilian has been hurt and only the base which Daesh used to launch attacks in other parts of the province was destroyed," spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.

The bomb, the US military's largest non-nuclear device, was dropped from an MC-130 aircraft very close to the border with Pakistan.

Achin District Governor Esmail Shinwari said: "The explosion was the biggest I have ever seen.

"Towering flames engulfed the area.

The nickname - the mother of all bombs - is based on the name given to the weapon by the US Air Force - 'Massive Ordnance Air Blast' bomb and it is regarded as particularly effective against clusters of targets on or just underneath the ground.

The Afghan army spokesman in Nangarhar said the bomb was dropped between two mountains where IS had carved out caves and tunnels.

There were believed to have been between 40 and 70 fighters there at the time, Jawid Saleem told Tolo News.

The weapon, which was first tested just days before the Iraq War in March 2013, was dropped at 7.32pm local time (4.02pm UK time) after its deployment was signed off by General John Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan.

General Nicholson said the strike was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the Achin area "while maximising the destruction" of IS fighters and facilities.

He said IS has been using improvised explosive devices, bunkers and tunnels to strengthen its defences.

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