The 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.
Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump says it was the first-ever combat use of the bomb, known as the GBU-43, which contains 11 tons of explosives. It was first tested in March 2003, just days before the start of the Iraq war.
It was the first time the United States has used this size 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, Stump said.
The Air Force calls it the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb. Based on the acronym, it has been nicknamed the "Mother Of All Bombs."
General John Nicholson, the head of U.S. 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.
"This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K," Nicholson said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear how much damage the bomb did.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.
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