Up to 36 suspected Islamic State operatives are reported to have been killed by the massive 21,000-pound "mother of all bombs" dropped by U.S. military forces on a complex of mountainside caves and tunnels in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.
USA 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. United States and Afghan forces had been unable to advance because ISIS - which has expanded into Afghanistan in recent years - had mined the area with explosives.
Meanwhile, the bomb can consume a large quantity of oxygen in the air when it explodes, thus suffocating personnel nearby to death, they say. Afghan officials also said there were no civilians casualties in the bombing, which was coordinated with them.
Afghanistan's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said the bombing was conducted in coordination with Afghan forces and that the Afghan government "took great care to avoid civilian harm". Trump says the Afghanistan strike wasn't meant as a message to North Korea.
But on Friday, however, the US military appeared entirely focused on the Islamic State group.
"Eight days ago, I went with my unit to help our demining team and Daesh militants attacked us", Amruddin said, using a local name for the militant group.
The IS" Amaq News Agency denied reports of the group incurring casualties in America dropping a "Massive Ordnance Air Blast, a 10,300 kg bomb, on its tunnel complex in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province'.
Another Afghan man, 46-year-old Abdul, who lives three kilometers from the site, described the thick cloud of dust that formed after the deafening blast.
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While the war in Afghanistan has largely slipped from public consciousness in the United States, replaced by the conflict in Syria and ongoing tensions over North Korea, there are still around 8,400 U.S. troops in the country engaged in counter terrorism operations. He said he could see smoke in the sky.
The strike was part of a joint operation between Afghan and worldwide troops, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office said in a statement.
Hakim Khan, 50, a resident of Achin district where the attack took place, welcomed the attack on IS, saying: "I want 100 times more bombings on this group".
Trump hailed the mission in Achin district as "very, very successful".
Thursday's strike was not the first time Islamic State fighters have been targeted by heavy American bombardment in Nangarhar, where a USA special forces soldier was killed battling militants a week ago.
Inamullah Meyakhil, a spokesperson for the central hospital in eastern Nangarhar, said they had received no dead or wounded from the attack.
Last year, air strikes by global forces caused at least 127 civilian deaths and 108 injuries, up from 103 deaths and 67 injuries in 2015, the United Nations said.
The Site Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist organizations, reported Friday on a statement from the Afghan Taliban condemning the US for its "terrorist" attack.
"Using this massive bomb can not be justified and will leave a material and psychological impact on our people", the Taliban, who compete with Islamic State in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
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