Washington: The United States dropped "the mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, the military said.
President Donald Trump touted the bombing as evidence of a more muscular US foreign policy since he took office in January after eight years of President Barack Obama.
.@USFOR_A #US Forces targets ISIS-K stronghold, drops GBU-43 #MOAB bomb on #ISIS pic.twitter.com/GYjyMLiqUS? U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 13, 2017
The security situation remains precarious in Afghanistan, with a number of militant groups trying to claim territory more than 15 years after the US invasion which toppled the Taliban government.
So far, Trump has offered little clarity about a broader strategy for Afghanistan, where some 8,400 US troops remain.LONG AFGHAN WAR
Spicer said the bomb was dropped at around 7 p.m. local time and described it as "a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon." US forces took "all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage," he said.
BREAKING: US military drops 21,000-pound non-nuclear bomb -- known as the “mother of all bombs” — in Afghanistan https://t.co/EOji2tjxzi pic.twitter.com/VlQNjTRnqa? CNN (@CNN) April 13, 2017
The US government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said earlier this year that the Afghan government controls less than 60 percent of the country.
Cancian added that while sending a message to Syria or North Korea could have been among the secondary factors considered, they would not have been the main reason for using this type of weapon.
But Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a Democrat who was the only "no" vote for authorization for use of military force in Afghanistan in 2001, said the move was unprecedented and asked for an explanation.
"President Trump owes the American people an explanation about his escalation of military force in Afghanistan and his long-term strategy to defeat ISIS," she said in a statement.
The top US commander in Afghanistan said recently that he needed several thousand more international troops in order to break a stalemate in the long war with Taliban insurgents.
US officials say intelligence suggests Islamic State is based overwhelmingly in Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar province.
Estimates of its strength in Afghanistan vary. US officials have said they believe the movement has only 700 fighters but Afghan officials estimate it has about 1,500.
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