WASHINGTON – The United States dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday against a series of caves used by Islamic State militants, the military said.

PICTURED: A Massive Ordnance Air Blast- or more commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs -(MOAB) weapon at the Eglin Air Force Armament Center. CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

It was the first time the United States has used this size of bomb in a conflict. It was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said.

Also known as the “mother of all bombs,” the GBU-43 is a 21,600 pound (9,797 kg) GPS-guided munition and was first tested in March 2003, just days before the start of the Iraq war.

PICTURED: A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast weapon on display outside the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

General John Nicholson, the head of US and international forces in Afghanistan, said the bomb was used against caves and bunkers housing fighters of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, also known as ISIS-K.

“This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K,” Nicholson said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how much damage the bomb did.

PICTURED: File image of grid fins of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast weapon on display outside the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

Watch the file video below detailing the detonation of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB, aka Mother of All Bombs) the most powerful non-nuclear bomb made so far, which has a blast radius of up to one mile / 1.6km (on each side):

Reuters