U.S. drops ‘mother of all bombs’ in Afghanistan

Pentagon officials announced today the U.S. military dropped the “mother of all bombs” on an Islamic State base in Afghanistan. The GBU-43B, developed in the early 2000s, is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used. It unleashes 11 tons of explosives. Today’s strike targeted a tunnel complex near the Pakistani border in the Achin district of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. U.S. officials decided to deploy the weapon to minimize the Islamic terror group’s ability to use improvised explosive devices, bunkers, and tunnels to strengthen its defenses. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K," said Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, using the U.S. military's acronym for the IS affiliate.