Everything We Know: 36 ISIS Militants Dead After "Mother Of All Bombs" Drops On Afghanistan

Afghan officials have stated that the 21,600-pound bomb that the U.S. dropped in Eastern Afghanistan on Thursday has killed 36 ISIS militants. According to CNN, General John Nicholson, who serves as the commander for US forces in Afghanistan, defended the decision by saying that “this was the right weapon against the right target.” “It was the right time to use it tactically against the right target on the battlefield,” Nicholson continued. The bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb in military arsenal, was said to strike a complex of tunnels believed to be used by ISIS. Following a White House press briefing shortly after the announcement, the nation still knows very little about why the bomb was used and what went into the decision, considering the previous administration’s work to close the door on the Afghanistan war. Here’s what we know so far about the latest military action, which occurred a week to the day that Trump’s administration launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syria. – According to The New York Daily News, at least 36 ISIS militants were killed during the blast and no civilians died. – Adam Stump, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Associated Press that for the first time ever, the U.S. has used the GBU-43 bomb, which contains 11 tons of explosives. Although the bomb has been tested for years, it has never been used in the battleground before. – The Pentagon has described the bomb, which has a radius of roughly 300 meters, as the “mother of all bombs.” Reports show that it was dropped in Nangarhar Province, an eastern area near the Pakistan border. – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made a statement about the bombing on Thursday. “We targeted a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used to move around freely … The United States takes the fight against ISIS very seriously,” Spicer said. This is a developing story.