Thread: US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan after Green Beret killed

US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan after Green Beret killed

By Lucas Tomlinson
Published April 13, 2017 FoxNews.com

The U.S. military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, just days after a Green Beret was killed fighting ISIS there, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News.

The GBU-43B, a 21,000-pound conventional bomb, was dropped on an ISIS tunnel complex in Nangarhar Province.

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The Massive Ordinance Air Blast was first tested in 2003. (DOD)


The MOAB -- Massive Ordinance Air Blast -- is also known as the “Mother Of All bombs.” It was first tested in 2003, but hadn't been used in combat before Thursday.

The MOAB is so massive it had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane.

"We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News.

For comparison to the 21,000-pound MOAB, each Tomahawk cruise missile launched at a Syrian military air base last week was 1,000-pounds each.

"As [ISIS'] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]."

The statement said U.S. forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04...et-killed.html

I bet that was great news for the military suppliers?????????

That bomb cost $16 MILLION, plus delivery cost.

And they blew up a bunch of dirt.

They should have dropped it on the Syrian airbase runway last week.

I'm okay with using it against 1,000 ISIS fighters. Fox News is reporting that the General in Afghanistan made the call to use the bomb. Trump said he's given them much more authority.

Originally Posted by Judy

I'm okay with using it against 1,000 ISIS fighters. Fox News is reporting that the General in Afghanistan made the call to use the bomb. Trump said he's given them much more authority.

Where did you get the "1,000 ISIS fighters" from? I haven't seen anything like that in any of the many articles I have read.

It was on Fox News interview. This area where the bomb hit was tunnels and bunkers for about 1,000 ISIS fighters.

Originally Posted by Judy

It was on Fox News interview. This area where the bomb hit was tunnels and bunkers for about 1,000 ISIS fighters.

BING BING BING

GO DJT

Exactly.

Stay Tuned.

FOX News (Link included) says there are 600 to 800 ISIS fighters in the entire country of Afghanistan. The bomb didn't take out the entire country.


"The U.S. estimates that between 600 to 800 ISIS fighters are present in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar. The U.S. has concentrated heavily on combatting them while also supporting Afghan forces battling the Taliban."


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04...et-killed.html

The person on Fox News who said there were 1,000 ISIS fighers in this area of Afghanistan using these tunnels, caves and bunkers they bombed today is Pete Hegseth. Take it up with him.