iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Thirty-six ISIS militants were killed but no civilians died when the U.S. military dropped the “mother of all bombs” on a cave complex in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
The 22,000-pound bomb was used for the first time in combat on Thursday, when it was deployed from an MC-130 aircraft targeting the Achin district near the Pakistan border.
According to the Afghan Ministry of Defense, caves and ammunition caches were also destroyed.
ABC News has not been able to independently verify the claims.
The “earsplitting blast” could be heard on both sides of the border, The Associated Press reported, citing the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
USMIL infrared video of #MOAB landing & detonating against #ISIS Khorasan cave complex in E #Afghanistan this week https://t.co/EShp6OJsMU
— James Gordon Meek (@meekwire) April 14, 2017
The bomb — known officially as GBU-43/B, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) bomb — is one of the largest non-nuclear weapons in the U.S. military’s arsenal. It was first developed in 2003.
Between 600 and 800 ISIS militants are believed to be in Afghanistan, the AP reported, citing U.S. official estimates.
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