KABOOM!!! Islamic State says no fighter killed by mother of all bombs

The Islamic State group has denied suffering casualties from the US so-called mother of all bombs in Afghanistan.

The strike on Thursday hit an Islamic State mountain hideouts in a remote area of Nangarhar province, in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

It was the first time the US military unleashed the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, its largest non-nuclear bomb.

Islamic State issued a statement through its propaganda agency Amaq, saying: "Security source to Amaq agency denies any dead or wounded from yesterday's American strike in Nangarhar using a GBU-43/B."

Afghan officials said the attack left 36 IS fighters dead and no civilian casualties.

The top US military commander in Afghanistan said the decision to deploy one of the largest conventional bombs ever used in combat was purely tactical.

"This is the right weapon for the right target," said US General John W. Nicholson, the NATO commander in Afghanistan.

The attack, in an area that had seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between Afghan forces and IS militants, destroyed several IS caves and ammunition caches, the Afghan defence ministry said.

A ministry spokesman, General Daulat Waziri, said the bombing was necessary because the tunnel complex was extremely hard to penetrate, with some as deep as 40m.

"It was a strong position and four times we had operations (attacking the site) and it was not possible to advance," he said, adding that the road leading to the complex "was full of mines".

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK  

> facebook Global audience 

> facebook Nigerian audience  

FOLLOW US ON:

> The Forefront on Twitter

>BBM Channel: C002CB006 {WELCOME TO THE FOREFRONT

>{Instagram: the_forefront_nigeria }

Connect with Joshua Osagie (Blog owner) 

 >  facebook personal account 

 > facebook  (fan page) 

 > twitter

 > Instagram: osagiejoshua

Share this post with others on social media with options below.