US drops ‘Mother of All Bombs’ on ISIS Caves in Afghanistan

The United States on 13 April 2017 dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat on an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan. The bomb was dropped at around 7 PM local time in Afghanistan.

Adam Stump, the spokesman of the Pentagon stated, “a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed Mother of All Bombs, was dropped on a tunnel complex of ISIS-Khorasan, a regional affiliate of the terror group, in Achin district of Afghanistan's Nanagarh province.”

The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command.

President Donald Trump praised the military for the bombing run and called it a successful mission.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that the US took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation.

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What is Mother of All Bombs?

• The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast is a large-yield conventional (non-nuclear) bomb.

• It was developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

• At the time of development, it was touted as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed.

• The bomb was designed to be delivered by a C-130 Hercules, primarily the MC-130E Combat Talon I or MC-130H Combat Talon II variants.

• It is a 21600-pound, GPS-guided munition that is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

Why America used Mother of All Bombs?

• Following the bombings on Afghanistan, US President Trump said that he does not know if this sends a message to North Korea. He said that North Korea is a problem and it will be taken care of.

• Perhaps, the US signals the North Koreans and the Syrians that the US can deploy such weapons against their bunker systems.

• Also, it is in American and Afghan interests for the US to stay in Afghanistan so that it does not transform into Iraq of 2014, when Taliban controlled much of the country while hosting a strong presence of ISIS.