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1st Ld-Writethru: U.S. drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan

Xinhua, April 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

The U.S. military has dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan on an Islamic State target, the Pentagon said Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday gave the order for the U.S. military to drop a GBU-43 or Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb on an IS cave complex in Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, the first time such a bomb has been used in combat.

"The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities," the Pentagon said in a statement.

ISIS-K refers to ISIS-Khorasan, the terror group's affiliate in Afghanistan.

The MOAB, which weighs about 22,000 pounds, is nicknamed "Mother Of All Bombs". Endit