The United States has dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, in eastern Afghanistan on a series of caves used by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to the Pentagon. US forces in Afghanistan dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, whose acronym has inspired the nickname "Mother of All Bombs," over the Achin district of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, which borders northwest Pakistan. "The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities." DoD Photo

"At 7:32 p.m. local time today, US 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, referring to the ISIS branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISIS-Khorasan. US President Donald Trump called the mission “very, very successful.”

The huge bomb, delivered via an MC-130 transport plane, has a blast yield equivalent to 11 tons of TNT, and the weapon was originally designed as much to intimidate foes as to clear broad areas. US officials have said they believe the group has only 700 fighters, but Afghan officials estimate there are closer to 1,500 in the country.
The United States Air Force drops the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, reportedly on an ISIL complex of tunnels and caves. This is the first use of the weapon on the battlefield.