Mother of all Bombs

US military defends dropping 'mother of all bombs' on ISIS in Afghanistan

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB, was dropped Thursday night on a network of fortified underground tunnels that ISIS had been using to stage attacks on government forces.

The strike in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border killed 36 ISIS fighters, Afghan officials said. The US military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 active fighters in the area but was unclear whether it had hoped to strike more.

The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, Afghan and US officials said.

Up to 36 suspected IS militants killed by 'mother of all bombs'

The claims have not been independently verified, but ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said no civilians were harmed in the massive blast that targeted a network of caves and tunnels.

"No civilian has been hurt and only the base which Daesh used to launch attacks in other parts of the province was destroyed," Mr Waziri said in a statement, using the Arabic term for Islamic State, which has established a small stronghold in eastern Afghanistan.

It's the first the US has dropped a GBU-43 bomb - the largest non-nuclear device it has ever used in combat.