Inside the ISIS base that was blown to bits by Trump's 'mother of all bombs': The charred mountainside where 92 terrorists died after it was hit by biggest non-nuclear bomb ever

• Incredible footage has emerged of the aftermath of the 'mother of all bombs'
• The US military dropped the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb on ISIS
• The blast targeted a fortified tunnel complex in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan
• A clip reveals the weapon's power on the charred mountainside and buildings

 

 

 

 

Inspecting: A man sifts through the remains of a building close to where the bomb was dropped

 

Incredible footage has emerged of the aftermath of the 'mother of all bombs' which was dropped on ISIS fighters by the US military earlier in April.

Since the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb targeted a fortified tunnel complex used by suspected Islamic State fighters in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan access to the site has been controlled by US and Afghan troops. 

However an eye account from local police reveals the weapon's effects on the mountainside and buildings in the immediate area, with large holes carved into the earth and houses reduced to rubble.

 

 

Insight: A damaged gun on the ground was found after the bomb was dropped

 

 

 

Images scan across the charred mountainside which is littered with burned trees, pulled up from there roots. 

Footage shows some ruined mud-brick structures with groups of people trying to navigate over the rocks. 

The video also shows a large hole smashed into the mountainside and then spans to a police officer picking up a damaged gun from the floor, testing it to see if it can still fire. 

The US military has said that ongoing fighting had prevented media or independent investigators from visiting the site, and Afghan soldiers said special forces from both countries were still engaging the enemy in the area.

A witness viewed the site from several hundred yards away, because of what troops he was accompanying said were continued threats in the area.

 

While the 21,600-pound GBU-43 is billed as the US military's most powerful non-nuclear bomb, its destructive power, equivalent to 11 tonnes of TNT, pales in comparison with the relatively small atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War Two.

They had blasts equivalent to between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes of TNT.

Within a few hundred feet of the apparent blast site, leaves remained intact on trees, belying initial expectations that the explosion may have sent a destructive blast wave for up to a mile.

Afghan officials have said nearly 100 militants and no civilians were killed, but the remoteness of the area, the presence of Islamic State fighters, and, more recently, American security forces, has left those claims unverified.

US commanders said the bomb was used to target a tunnel complex and destroy landmines and other booby traps laid by Islamic State militants holed up in the mountains.

 

Guard: Afghan troops have been patrolling the area since the blast

 

 

 

 

Eeerie: Rubble is scattered in the place of where homes once stood

 

 

 

No obvious crater or bodies were visible at the scene, according to the Reuters witness.

Several hundred yards from the strike, Afghan soldiers explored a large tunnel dug beneath a home.

The entrance within the home descended into tunnels large enough for a person to stand in upright, strung with electric cables and light bulbs and strewn with rugs, cushions, and men's clothes and shoes.

 

 

 

 

Rubble: Despite the flattened building no obvious crater or bodies were visible at the scene

 

 

 

 

Turfed: The 21,600-pound GBU-43 is billed as the US military's most powerful non-nuclear bomb

 

 

 

 

Bricks: Intact trees in the area squashes initial expectations that the explosion may have sent a destructive blast wave for up to a mile

 

 

 

One cave was said to have once held prisoners, but was unused at the time of the strike, according to soldiers at the scene.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters on Thursday that troops would not be digging into the site to determine how many people may have been killed.

'Frankly digging into tunnels to count dead bodies is probably not a good use of our troops' time when they are chasing down the enemy that is still capable,' he said.

The strike came as President Donald Trump declared a focus on Islamic State, and was part of a larger operation to clear Islamic State militants from their strongholds in the mountains along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In March, US forces conducted 79 'counter-terror strikes' against Islamic State in Nangarhar, killing as many as 200 militants, according to the U.S. military command in Kabul.

Military officials estimate there are about 600 to 800 Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar, but also in the neighbouring province of Kunar.

Taliban militants, meanwhile, remain the dominant insurgent group in Afghanistan.

A Taliban attack on a large Afghan army headquarters in the north of the country on Friday killed more than 140 soldiers, in what is believed to be the deadliest single attack on Afghan forces since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

(The Mail, UK)