The “Mother of all bombs" kills scores of IS fighters. Karzai slams US for using Afghanistan as a testing ground

The MOAB, which has a blast yield of 11 tonnes of TNT, killed 36 fighters. For the Pentagon, it is not a tool of indiscriminate killing. Originally s planned for use against Saddam Hussein, it might be useful against Iran.

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The US military's largest non-nuclear bomb killed at least 36 militants, Afghan Defence sources said.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb – better known as the "Mother of All Bombs" – hit Islamic State (IS) hideouts in Achin district in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday.

The huge bomb, which has a blast yield of 11 tonnes of TNT, was dropped from a US MC-130 special operations transport, and slowed by a parachute.

"The explosion was the biggest I have ever seen. Towering flames engulfed the area," said Achin District Governor Esmail Shinwari, adding “we think a lot of Daesh fighters may have been killed."

According to Army General John W. Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, the strike was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the Achin area “while maximising the destruction” of IS fighters and facilities.

So far, the only dissenting voice is that of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In a tweet, he said "I vehemently and in strongest words condemn the dropping of the latest weapon, the largest non-nuclear #bomb, on Afghanistan by US”. He also accused the United States of using Afghanistan as a testing ground for its new weapons.

The GBU-43 was developed in 2002 in view of hitting then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. In its 2003 review of the legality of using it, the Pentagon concluded that it could not be called an indiscriminate killer under the Law of Armed Conflict.

The weapon is designed to take out deeply buried targets like reinforced bunkers, like those of the Islamic State group hit yesterday.

Although the Pentagon has so far only mentioned the Islamic State group as a target, experts think that such a bomb could be used against Iran’s nuclear facilities and underground labs.

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