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US Military Defends ‘Mother Of All Bombs’ That Killed 36 Militants
The US military on Friday defended its decision to drop its most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS positions in Afghanistan, describing it as a “tactical” move.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB, was dropped Thursday night on a network of fortified underground tunnels that ISIS had been using to stage attacks on government forces.
The strike in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border killed 36 ISIS fighters, Afghan officials said. The US military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 active fighters in the area but was unclear whether it had hoped to strike more.
The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, Afghan and US officials said.
However, ISIS denied that any of its fighters were killed or injured, according to a statement in Arabic distributed by the terror group’s media wing, Amaq News Agency.
READ ALSO: US versus ISIS: 36 Fighters Killed By US ‘Mother Of All Bombs’
The US military was quizzed Friday on whether the 21,600-pound behemoth, known as the “mother of all bombs” for its extraordinary force, was necessary for that particular target.
The GPS-guided bomb is capable of destroying an area equivalent to nine city blocks.
“This was the right weapon against the right target,” Gen. John Nicholson, commander for US forces in Afghanistan, told a press conference.
“It was the right time to use it tactically against the right target on the battlefield.”
Nicholson gave a vague response to reporters’ questions on who ordered or greenlighted the strike, saying only that he enjoyed a certain amount of “latitude” to make decisions in his chain of command.
The general confirmed the strike was carried out in coordination with Afghan officials and said rigorous surveillance had been conducted to prevent any civilian deaths.
“Let me be clear — we will not relent in our mission to fight alongside our Afghan comrades to destroy ISIS-K in 2017,” he said, referring to the terror group’s regional branch.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he approved of the strike and that it was designed to support Afghan and US forces conducting clearance operations in the region.
But former President Hamid Karzai accused the United States of using Afghanistan as “a testing ground for new and dangerous weapons.“
