MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – On Thursday, US military aircraft dropped the 22,000-pound MOAB, nicknamed the "Mother of All Bombs" in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. MOAB is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal.
At least 82 militants were killed as a result of the bomb strike, The New York Times reported on Friday citing Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor’s office.
US President Donald Trump declined to say whether he personally authorized the weapon’s use on Thursday, but said that he had given US generals expanded authority to carry out attacks on the Islamic State as they see fit.
According to Washington, the MOAB was dropped to destroy a system of underground tunnels and caves in Nangarhar, thought to be used by Daesh terrorists.
The MOAB has been in service in the US military since 2003, but Thursday marked the first time the bomb was used in a combat action. The cost of a single MOAB is $16 million.
