Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, addresses a press briefing in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on April 14, 2017. The U.S. military has dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan on an Islamic State target, the Pentagon said Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday gave the order for the U.S. military to drop a GBU-43 or Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb on an IS cave complex in Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, the first time such a bomb has been used in combat. (Xinhua/Lu Shuqun)
KABUL, April 14 (Xinhua) -- NATO commander in Afghanistan John Nicolson said here on Friday that the timing of using a Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb was not related to outside events.
Answering questions about the timing of using this weapon at a press conference at Government Media and Information Center, Nicolson said, "We have been conducting operations against Islamic States in Afghanistan for the past year."
"So again, the timing of using this weapon was simply the tactical moment of against the proper target to use this particular munition. So it is not related to any outside events other than our focus on destroying IS in 2017."
"This was the right weapon against the target. The enemy has created bunkers, tunnels and extensive mine field. This weapon was used to reduce these obstacles so we continue our offensives in southern Nangarhar." Nicolson emphasized.
With an international conference on Afghanistan starting in Moscow on Friday, the timing of using the MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb, has fuelled speculations.
