The U.S. dropped the largest non-nuclear
bomb it’s ever used in combat on Islamic State positions in Afghanistan
Thursday night, a move the Trump administration said was aimed at denying the
group’s freedom of movement.
The Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was
dropped to reach “a system of tunnels and caves” used by the terrorists, White
House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Thursday.
"The United States takes the fight
against ISIS very seriously and in order to defeat the group, we must deny them
operational space, which we did," Spicer said, using an acronym for
Islamic State. "The United States took all precautions necessary to
prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation."
Asked if he authorized the strike,
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, “We have the greatest
military in the world and they’ve done a job, as usual. We have given them
total authorization and that’s what they’re doing.”
The action came a week after Trump
authorized missile strikes against Syria for a chemical weapons attack on
civilians. It also coincides with rising concern that North Korea may conduct
another nuclear test or missile launch. Trump has vowed that the U.S. will act
to stop North Korea’s nuclear program unless China manages to constrain its
neighbor.
“I don’t know if this sends a message,”
Trump said when asked if the bomb serves as a warning to North Korea. “It
doesn’t make any difference if it does or not. North Korea is a problem. The
problem will be taken care of. ”
The bomb dropped in Afghanistan,
designated a GBU-43, weighs 21,600 pounds. It was used in an area of Nangarhar
Province controlled by Islamic State, according to a Defense Department
statement. It’s released from an MC-130 transport plane by parachute and
utilizes Global Positioning System navigation to maneuver to the intended
target, according to an Air Force statement.
The GBU-43, sometimes nicknamed the
Mother of All Bombs, was billed as the successor to the 15,000-pound Daisy
Cutter of the Vietnam War era that was used in the 1991 war against Iraq and
later against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.
“The strike was designed to minimize the
risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while
maximizing the destruction” of Islamic State fighters and facilities, according
to a statement from the headquarters of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The move comes while the Trump
administration is reviewing strategy in Afghanistan as Taliban forces continue
to gain ground and Islamic State is establishing its own strongholds.
The Taliban control or contest more than
half of Afghanistan’s populated areas, according to U.S. estimates, making it
harder for America to extract itself from its longest-ever war.
Former President Barack Obama had
planned to remove most U.S. troops from Afghanistan before leaving office, but
pulled back from that plan because of Taliban gains and the inability of Afghan
forces to fight on their own.
About 13,000 U.S. and NATO troops remain
in Afghanistan, and the top U.S. commander is pushing for several thousand
more.
Separately, the Pentagon announced that
a coalition airstrike intended to target Islamic State forces in Syria had
inadvertently killed 18 Syrian fighters allied with the United States.
The strike in Tabqah was requested by
allies on the ground there who identified the target as an Islamic State
fighting position, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. In fact, it was
actually the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
"The Coalition’s deepest
condolences go out to the members of the SDF and their families," the
coalition said in the statement. "The Coalition is in close contact with
our SDF partners who have expressed a strong desire to remain focused on the
fight against ISIS despite this tragic incident."
This was the third time in the past
month that a U.S. airstrike in the fight against Islamic State was believed to
have killed civilians or allies.
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