Kabul [Afghanistan], Apr. 14 : The Afghanistan Government was kept in the loop when the United States dropped the non-nuclear GBU-43 bomb on a tunnel and cave network managed by the Islamic State.
The Office of the President, ARG Palace, in a statement, said the followers of the dreaded terrorist group suffered heavy casualty, while confirming the close coordination between Afghan and American forces to destroy the caves, Khama Press reports.
The statement said Afghan forces will continue to fight against the terrorist groups in close coordination with U.S.
forces in the country. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer while confirming the use of the bomb said, "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 added that they used all necessary precaution to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage.
Earlier, CNN reported that the U.S. military had dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the Achin district of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, which borders Paksitan, to target the Islamic State.
This is the first time a MOAB has been used in the battlefield, according to the US officials. This munition was developed during the Iraq War. Last week, a Green Beret of the U.S. armed forces was killed during a combat operation against ISIS State in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province.
American forces in Afghanistan are primarily charged with advising and assisting Afghan security forces as part of NATO's Resolute Support mission, but the U.S.
military also conducts counterterrorism combat operations against groups such as ISIS and al-Qaida under its unilateral Freedom's Sentinel operation.
Source: ANI
