US drops 'mother of all bombs' on ISIS caves in Afghanistan - What exactly happened

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Kabul: The United States military fighting the dreaded Islamic State group in Afghanistan dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb till date, weighing nearly 22,000 pounds, sending 'ripples' in the world capitals on Thursday.

The massive bomb was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump told reporters. This unprecedented attack was carried out to destroy a chain of complex cave networks used by the ISIS in the eastern Afghan province of Nangahar.

The US military described the GBU-43 explosion as the “mother of all bombs”, also dubbed as the largest non-nuclear weapon. The bomb has never before been used in combat by the US troops.

The weapon was dropped on an ISIS cave complex near the Afghan border with Pakistan, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed.

The GBU-43/B bomb hit a "tunnel complex" in Achin district in Nangarhar province around 7:32 pm local time, US Forces in Afghanistan said in a statement.

"US forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike. US Forces will continue offensive operations until ISIS-K is destroyed in Afghanistan," the statement said.

The Afghan strike had been in the works for a number of months and the weapon was brought into the country specifically for this mission, media reports said citing US officials.