Former Afghan president denounces use of massive bomb in eastern province

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday strongly condemned the use of a massive bomb by U.S. military in eastern province of Nangarhar.

"I strongly condemn the dropping of the latest weapon, the largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan by the U.S. military," Karzai told audience at an event here.

On Thursday evening, the U.S. military dropped a GBU-43 or Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, on an Islamic State (IS) complex in Achin district of the mountainous province bordering Pakistan.

"It has been an insult, and the blast caused by the strike has severely damaged our environment," he said.

"The latest bombing was not an act against terrorism but the inhuman misuse of our country as a testing ground for dangerous weapons," he added.

The ex-president also questioned the United States for failing to fight the terror groups in Afghanistan, "You came to Afghanistan to fight terrorism but why terrorism and extremis have been spreading day by day and the bloodshed increased across Afghanistan,"

While Afghan officials stated that the strike was conducted with close coordination with Afghan security forces, Karzai also strongly criticize the government for allowing the U.S. military to conduct the raid.

More than 1,900 IS militants, several Afghan security forces and two U.S. soldiers have been killed in Achin and neighboring districts since early 2015 when IS emerged there, according to Afghan military officials.

A U.S. Special Forces member was killed in Achin over the weekend. Enditem