Massive US strike in Afghanistan kills 36 ISIS terrorists

Dozens of ISIS terrorists were killed in what Trump described as a “very, very successful mission” in Afghanistan. There were no reported civilian casualties. 

An attack on a tunnel complex in remote eastern Afghanistan with the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the US military left 36 Islamic State group fighters dead and no civilian casualties, Afghanistan officials said Friday.

It was the first-ever use of the MOAB, America’s GBU-43B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat, also known as the mother of all bombs.

The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that several ISIS caves and ammunition caches were destroyed.

“I want a hundred times more bombings on this group,” said Hakim Khan, 50, a resident of Achin district in Nangarhar province where the bombing took place.

The US military headquarters in Kabul said the bomb was dropped at about 7:30 p.m. local time Thursday on the Nangarhar tunnel complex, where the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group has been operating. The target was close to the Pakistani border and some Pakistan residents nearby said they heard the explosion.

The US estimates 600 to 800 ISIS fighters are present in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar. The US has concentrated heavily on combating them while also supporting Afghan forces battling the Taliban.

President Donald Trump called the operation a “very, very successful mission.”

The bomb, known officially as a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast weapon, unleashes 11 tons of explosives.

Inamullah Meyakhil, spokesman for the central hospital in eastern Nangarhar province, said the facility had received no dead or wounded from the attack.

District Gov. Ismail Shinwari said there is no civilian property near the airstrike location.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff

AfghanistanISISIslamic terrorMOAB