NEW DELHI: The US military on Thursday dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat on an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border.

  • The MOAB, developed for use in the Iraq war and first tested in 2003, is dropped from an aircraft on a pallet.

  • A MOAB is a 21,600 pound (around 9,525 Kg), Global Positioning System (GPS)-guided munition that is US's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

  • Its main effect is a massive blast wave - said to stretch for 1.6 kms. The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command. It's the first-ever combat use of the bomb.

  • GBU-43/B, colloquially known as the "Mother Of All Bombs" or MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) , was used on Thursday to target tunnels and bunkers built by Islamic State fighter in Nangarhar province.

  • The MOAB was designed to target large below-ground areas. It would have "feel like a nuclear weapon to anyone near the area," Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona (ret.) told CNN.