Friday

US drops biggest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan pakistan border targeting ISIS caves



WASHINGTON: The 
pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_Link#AS1_http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/us-drops-biggest-non-nuclear-bomb-in-afghanistan-targeting-isis-caves/articleshow/58170324.cms" style="animation: bbanimate 2s cubic-bezier(0.04, 0.01, 0.58, 1) infinite; background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(60, 162, 200); color: #3ca2c8; cursor: pointer; font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.1; opacity: 0.8; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none;">United States dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday against a series of caves used by Islamic State militants, the military said.

The strike occurred at 7:32 pm (1502 GMT).

It was the first time the United States has used this size of bomb in a conflict. It was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said.

Also known as the "
pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_Link#AS1_http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/us-drops-biggest-non-nuclear-bomb-in-afghanistan-targeting-isis-caves/articleshow/58170324.cms" style="background-color: white; color: #3ca2c8; cursor: pointer; font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.1; opacity: 0.8; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none;">mother of all bombs," the GBU-43 is a 21,600 pound (9,797 kg) GPS-guided munition and was first tested in March 2003, just days before the start of the Iraq war.

General John Nicholson, the head of US and international forces in Afghanistan, said the bomb was used against caves and bunkers housing fighters of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, also known as ISIS-K.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: "We must deny them operational space, which we did."

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