America drops largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan in military first

The United States used its largest non-nuclear weapon in Afghanistan on Thursday, marking the first time the bomb has ever been used in combat. Nicknamed the "mother of all bombs," or "MOAB," the GBU-43/B weighs 21,000 pounds and was used to target a series of caves in the Nangarhar Province, where members of the Islamic State are believed to be living.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr described the region as a "remote area" with a "minimum chance of civilian casualties," although reconnaissance will be required to understand the full effects of its detonation.

"It will feel like a nuclear blast to anyone in the area," Lt Col. Rick Francona told CNN, adding it would kill people for "hundreds of meters." Read more about the history of the weapon at The Week, here. Jeva Lange

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

This is a breaking news story and has been updated throughout.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article overstated the size of the bomb. It has since been corrected. We regret the error.