The US has released footage showing the moment the “mother of all bombs” was dropped on an ISIS base in Afghanistan.
The mammoth 9,800kg bomb is the biggest non-nuclear explosive device owned by the US and was dropped on a tunnel complex on Thursday night.
It killed 36 ISIS militants and completely destroyed the base, the Afghan military claimed.
On Friday the USA’s defence department released a video of the moment the MOAB – massive ordnance air blast – bomb struck the Nangarhar province.
In an instant the area is blackened and massive clouds of thick smoke surge into the air as the bomb, one of the largest ever released in combat, unleashes 11 tonnes of explosives.
It was shared in a tweet which was accompanied by the words: "A #MOAB bomb strikes #ISIS cave & tunnel systems in eastern #Afghanistan.
"The strike was designed to minimize risk to Afghan and US forces."
On Friday the USA’s leading military commander in Afghanistan said dropping the bomb was a strategic decision.
General John Nicholson told the media: “This was the right weapon for the right target.”
President Donald Trump had already told White House reporters that he was “very proud” of the attack and called it “another successful job”.
