Thirty-six ISIS militants were killed when a US plane dropped "the mother of all bombs" on a network of caves and tunnels used by the terror group, say officials.
Afghanistan's Defence Ministry claimed no civilians were harmed as it announced the death toll hours after the bomb hit an ISIS stronghold.
Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said ISIS used the base in eastern Afghanistan to launch attacks in the region.
The massive GBU-43 bomb that was dropped on Thursday was the largest non-nuclear bomb the US has ever used in combat.
UPDATE: IS death toll hits 90 from huge US bomb in Afghanistan
The 21,600lb (9,797kg) bomb, which has 11 tons of explosives, was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, near the border with Pakistan.
Waziri said: "No civilian has been hurt and only the base which Daesh used to launch attacks in other parts of the province, was destroyed.
Only one civilian family lived near the ISIS camp, TOLO News reported.
ISIS, also known as Daesh, has established a small stronghold in eastern Afghanistan and launched deadly attacks on the capital Kabul.
Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of Afghanistan, said the bomb was dropped by the US in coordination with the Afghan government.
He said strike targeted an ISIS base which was also used as a training camp and ammunition dump.
He wrote on Twitter: "Many families had long been been displaced from the area due to ISIS brutality. Gov't also took great care to avoid civilian harm.
"Joint nature of the operation shows our common resolve to eliminate ISIS and terror safe havens from our country."
No comments:
Post a Comment