The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB known as the Mother of All Bombs) is a large-yield bomb, developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory. At the time of development, it was touted as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the American arsenal. The bomb is designed to be delivered by a C-130 Hercules, primarily the MC-130E Combat Talon I or MC-130H Combat Talon II variants. The first operational usage of the MOAB was during the 13 April 2017 airstrike against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants in Afghanistan.
On 13 April 2017, a MOAB was dropped on an ISIL-Khorasan cave complex in Achin District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. It was the first operational use of the bomb. Two days later, an Afghan army spokesman said that the strike killed 94 ISIS-K militants, including four commanders, with no signs of civilian casualties. However, a parliamentarian from Nangarhar province, Esmatullah Shinwari, said the explosion killed a teacher and his young son. Former US military official Marc Garlasco, who served in the George W. Bush administration, said that the US had not previously used the MOAB because of worries that it would inadvertently hurt or kill civilians.
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