US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan

[F-22Raptor]

The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.

A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb — nicknamed the "Mother of All Bombs" (MOAB) — was dropped in at 7 p.m. local time Thursday, sources said.

This is the first time a MOAB has been used in the battlefield, according to the US officials.

Military sources said the target was ISIS tunnels and personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province. The military is currently assessing the damage.

This munition was developed during the Iraq War but was never used in the battlefield.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/polit...e974768320d3@livefyre.com&hubRefSrc=permalink

 

[F-22Raptor]

 

[Path-Finder]

US drops largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan, first time used in combat
Published time: 13 Apr, 2017 16:48Edited time: 13 Apr, 2017 16:53
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The US military has used its GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed “the mother of all bombs,” for the first time in combat. The US Air Force used it in Afghanistan to target Islamic State tunnels and personnel.
The 21,000-pound (9,525 kg) bomb was dropped in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.

 

[Path-Finder]

 

[neem456]

Any casualties

 

[BHarwana]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon says U.S. forces in Afghanistan dropped the military's largest non-nuclear bomb on an Islamic State target in Afghanistan.

Adam Stump is a Pentagon spokesman. Stump says it was the first-ever combat use of the bomb, known as the GBU-43, which he said contains 11 tons of explosives. The Air Force calls it the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb. Based on the acronym, it has been nicknamed the "Mother Of All Bombs."

Stump says the bomb was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by IS fighters in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, very close to the border with Pakistan.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-13-12-57-15

 

[Hindustani78]

The MOAB, which was developed during the Iraq war, is the US's largest non-nuclear bomb and had not been deployed on the battlefield until now. It weighs 21,000 pounds and was dropped at 7 p.m. local time on Thursday.

"This is a weapon that would be used against a large footprint on the ground," Starr said on CNN. The target in question was reportedly an ISIS complex with a camp and tunnels and where personnel were assembling.

The area is very close to the Pakistan border, Starr said, and "is still a border that is not really controlled."

"And they have seen ISIS develop on the Afghanistan side of the this border," she added.

"At 7:32 pm local time today, U.S. Forces - Afghanistan conducted a strike on an ISIS-K tunnel complex in Achin district, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, as part of ongoing efforts to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017," US Central Command said in a statement.

"The strike used a GBU-43 bomb dropped from a U.S. aircraft," the statement said. "The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities."

"As ISIS-K's losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in the statement, referring to the ISIS branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISIS-Khorasan. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K."

The MOAB's deployment comes just a few days after a US Special Forces operator was killed in the same region of the country during operations against ISIS.

"The soldier was mortally wounded late Saturday during an operation in Nangarhar Province" in eastern Afghanistan, US Navy Captain Bill Salvin said on Twitter on April 8.

The US and NATO war in Afghanistan will enter its 16th year in 2017.

The US has deployed heavy ordnance in the country before. In November 2001, during the initial invasion of Afghanistan, the US dropped "daisy cutter" bombs — which weighed 15,000 pounds and were first used to clear helicopter landing zones in the jungles of Vietnam — on Taliban positions.

 

[Sugarcane]

AF is most probably used as guinea pig to send message.

 

[ranjeet]

Not sure if this news is related to thread. But good riddance.

https://twitter.com/x/status/852549753854406656

 

[CHACHA"G"]

I guess video is from test , but look at that , hell man ,,,,,,,,,,,,, that is one hell of bomb.

 

[Beny Karachun]

 

[BHarwana]

 

[Beny Karachun]

For size comparison:

 

[Reichsmarschall]

US drops largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan, first time used in combat
Published time: 13 Apr, 2017 16:48Edited time: 13 Apr, 2017 17:11
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© United States Department of Defence / Wikipedia

The US military has used its GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed “the mother of all bombs,” for the first time in combat. The US Air Force used it in Afghanistan to target Islamic State tunnels and personnel.
The 21,000-pound (9,525 kg) bomb was dropped in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.

The Pentagon has confirmed the use of the MOAB, and is currently assessing damage. General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on its use, CNN reported. Authority was also sought from General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The Air Force developed the MOAB in 2003, but it had never been used in combat until 7pm local time on Thursday.

The use of the bomb comes as the US involvement in Afghanistan heads into its 16th year in the fall, and days after a US Special Forces operator was killed in the same region.

"The soldier was mortally wounded late Saturday during an operation in Nangarhar Province," US Navy Captain Bill Salvin tweeted.

READ MORE: US-led coalition airstrike mistakenly killed 18 SDF ally fighters in Syria on April 11 – Pentagon

The MOAB was designed to target large below-ground areas. It would have “feel like a nuclear weapon to anyone near the area," Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona (ret.) told CNN.

The GPS-guided munition would have already been in country before it was dropped out of an MC-130 aircraft, operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, military sources told CNN’s Barbara Starr.

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U.S. military statement on GBU-43 bomb used against ISIS in Afghanistan: "U.S. Forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties." pic.twitter.com/sWKRMhStvc


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CENTCOM after U.S. drops GBU-43 bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan: U.S. "will continue offensive operations until ISIS-K is destroyed." pic.twitter.com/qyrNXhpQbu

9:59 PM - 13 Apr 2017

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“The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, referring to Islamic State Khorasan, the branch of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

Nicholson described the MOAB as “the right munition to reduce” the improvised explosive devices (IEDs), bunkers and tunnels IS is using to “thicken their defense.” The bomb will also “maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K,” he said.

The Air Force “took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties,” CENTCOM said.

 

[Sugarcane]

Already many threads on it