Washington: In a major crackdown against terror outfit ISIS, the US on Thursday bombed Afghanistan. The US President Donald Trump has praised the military for successful mission. Here are all the details:-
- White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the use of GBU 43 bomb, Washington's most powerful non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan to destroy a tunnels and caves network of the Islamic State.
- "At 7 p.m. local time in Afghanistan last night the U.S. military used the GBU 43 weapon. It is a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon. We targeted a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used to move around freely making it easy for them to target the U.S. military advisors and afghan forces in the area," Spicer said in press briefing on Thursday.
- Spicer added that they used all necessary precaution to avoid civilian causalities and collateral damage.
- The military is currently assessing the damage.
- According to media reports, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb. Authority had to be sought from Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command.
- According to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission, the bomb's target was an ISIS tunnel and cave complex as well as personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan
- The Nangarhar province borders with Pakistan.
- The US military on Thursday dropped what is considered to be the largest non-nuclear bomb on an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan, the Pentagon confirmed.
-The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb hit a "tunnel complex" in Achin district in Nangarhar province, US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement.
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-The strike occurred at about 7:32 pm local time (1502 GMT).
-Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said it was the first combat use of the weapon.
-The United States dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, also known as the "mother of all bombs," in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday against a series of caves used by Islamic State militants, the military said.
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-It was the first time this type of bomb had been used in combat and was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said.
