In part of the United States' efforts to eradicate ISIS, one of the world's most extreme terrorist groups, the US Military Forces dropped their largest and most powerful non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan last Thursday. It was targeting the terrorist group's bunkers and tunnels, which they use as an operational base. It's called the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb and nicknamed "MOAB" or "Mother of All Bombs."
In a statement made by the U.S. Forces - Afghanistan through ABC News, they said that the bomb was dropped at 7:32 p.m. local time in Achin district, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The attack was designed to minimize casualties to Afghan and U.S. forces but at the same time to maximize the effect of the bomb's destruction to the enemy forces known as ISIS-Khorasan, the ISIS affiliate group that mainly operates in the northern part of Afghanistan.
According to CNN, President Trump commended the attack as a "job well done", and when asked if he's the one who authorized the disposal of the bomb, he simply said that the details of the attack were known and that he has authorized the military to do all necessary efforts involved.
But when pressed for details, White House officials said that Trump doesn't necessarily mean the attack itself, as he granted the U.S. Forces broader scope of authorization on varying military tactics and actions, something he and Defense Secretary James Mattis wanted.
The decision to drop the bomb against enemy troops in Afghanistan was originally planned for months. An assessment is currently taking place in the area where the bomb was dropped in order to know the extent of the damage and whether civilians were killed in the ordeal.
Since last week, the fight between the US and Afghan forces against the ISIS-K has intensified, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the bomb was meant to "target the system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters use to move around freely." Another White House official commented that the use of MOAB bomb was the perfect weapon to achieve the desired effect of the military.
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