US drops non-nuclear 'Mother Of All Bombs' in Afghanistan on Islamic State hideout

Washington: US forces in Afghanistan dropped the military’s largest non-nuclear bomb on an Islamic State target in Afghanistan, AP reported on Thursday, quoting Pentagon as its source.

Adam Stump, a Pentagon spokesman, told AP that it was the first-ever combat use of the bomb, known as the GBU-43, which he said contains 11 tonnes of explosives.

“The Air Force calls it the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb. Based on the acronym, it has been nicknamed the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’,” AP said.

Stump says the bomb was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by IS fighters in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, very close to the border with Pakistan.

The dropping of the bomb was also confirmed by Reuters.

Speaking at a press conference, earlier this week on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had emphasised that the US campaign against the Islamic State group is still the main focus of the US in Syria, and remains on track. The US has been leading a campaign against IS in Syria along with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

More details awaited.

With agency inputs