The Afghan Ministry of Defense says 36 Islamic State militants were killed by a huge bomb dropped by the US military on Thursday.
Afghanistan's former President Hamid Karzai has blasted the U.S. for dropping its largest non-nuclear bomb in the Asian country, saying Washington is using his country as a "testing ground" for its new weapons.
At a village about 3 miles (5 km) from the remote, mountainous area where the bomb was dropped, witnesses said the ground shook, but homes and shops appeared unaffected.
Gen. Daulat Waziri, spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense, said 36 IS fighters were killed by the balst, and that the death toll could likely rise.
A Pentagon spokesman said it was the first-ever combat use of the bomb, known as the GBU-43, which he said contains 11 tons of explosives. The target was close to the Pakistani border.
But President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Afghanistan bombing was "another successful job".
One of the 21 missing Kerala youth, who was later found to have joined the ISIS, was killed in the mega airstrike conducted by the United States in the Achin district of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.
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American military officials estimate there are around 600 to 800 Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar, but also in the neighboring province of Kunar.
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February, General John Nicholson warned of a stalemate in the country.
Residents in Afghan villages kilometers away from the target area felt Thursday's powerful strike.
"This is not the war on terror but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and risky Weapons".
News of the bombing came hours after the Pentagon admitted an air strike in Syria mistakenly killed 18 USA allied rebels. "The explosion was the biggest I have ever seen".
Afghan officials said on Friday that the United States strike had killed at least 36 suspected Daesh terrorists, smashing a deep tunnel complex in the area. The target set has also been expanded to include targets buried under softer surfaces, like caves or tunnels. "They assume that because we've gone through eight years of not being aggressive. that they don't know that the change has been made, and I think that this is a loud message that went out with it, that America is now back in charge in the free world, and keeping us free".
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