US drops largest non-nuclear bomb MOAB on Afghanistan, first time used in combat

[indian patriot]

MOAB IMPACT ON PAKISTAN, ZAID HAMID IS SCARED NOW, NEXT IS PAKISTAN
NEW WORLD ORDER HAS NO SPACE FOR PAKISTAN

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Blurry third rate B/W video from the US Department of Defence! With all the latest technology and gizmos that the Yanks possess, is this all they could produce? Jeeeez!

And by the way, the MOAB costs $300 million a pop, ie equal to 6 X F-16s!!! All gone up in smoke just to kill a few dozen ISIS yahoos!! But then, as the saying goes, if you have the dosh, flaunt it!

The bomb is more of a psychological weapon to send a message we make go to next step and drop a nuke


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tshering22]

314 million $ for 20 bombs, that would be 16 million $ each.

Purchased during Obama period.

US is in disarray.

They just don't know where to attack.

MOAB is no solution to what they have created in the first place.

 

[ezsasa]

US is in disarray.

They just don't know where to attack.

MOAB is no solution to what they have created in the first place.

MOAB is not meant to be a solution, it was meant to be a message.

But I doubt the message has been received.

 

[Kshatriya87]

Didn't expect this from G. D. Bakshi. In the news he kept saying that this bomb goes underground 40 to 50 feet and then explodes whereas the name itself suggests air blast.

Also, hilariously, news channels kept saying Mother of All "BUM" ..

 

[Johny_Baba]

Didn't expect this from G. D. Bakshi. In the news he kept saying that this bomb goes underground 40 to 50 feet and then explodes whereas the name itself suggests air blast.

Also, hilariously, news channels kept saying Mother of All "BUM" ..

Perhaps gen bakshi mistook MOAB to 'bunker buster'.

And as for media,these people makes 'Rai kaa pahaad'.I am tired of explaining people around me that US didn't drop a nuclear bomb over Afghanistan but a Thermobaric bomb,and 99% of them asked "Thermo- What?".

 

[Kshatriya87]

Perhaps gen bakshi mistook MOAB to 'bunker buster'.

And as for media,these people makes 'Rai kaa pahaad'.I am tired of explaining people around me that US didn't drop a nuclear bomb over Afghanistan but a Thermobaric bomb,and 99% of them asked "Thermo- What?".

Even a bunker buster does not penetrate that far in.

 

[Horushmar.]

Blurry third rate B/W video from the US Department of Defence! With all the latest technology and gizmos that the Yanks possess, is this all they could produce? Jeeeez!

And by the way, the MOAB costs $300 million a pop, ie equal to 6 X F-16s!!! All gone up in smoke just to kill a few dozen ISIS yahoos!! But then, as the saying goes, if you have the dosh, flaunt it!

Well that's what a real drone(or surveillance cam) see's like.Blame michael bay for the 1080p drone cams

 

[Tshering22]

MOAB is not meant to be a solution, it was meant to be a message.

But I doubt the message has been received.

Those who are willing to blow themselves up to kill kafirs don't care really. MOAB or FOAB of Russia won't stop them.

The fountain head of terrorism is not in Afghanistan or Pakistan but is there in Saudi Arabia. Unless and until this is dropped over there by the US or Russian Air Forces, it will not calm these lunatics down.

I don't agree with Malala's statement in defending Islamists, but this would do nothing. The message holds an important warning to those who want self-preservation. Japan woke up because it didn't want to be erased from the map of earth.

However, Islamists don't care. Their religion guarantees them a paradise with 72 virgins and unending array of pleasures. They are prepared to die and complete their religious duty to convert or annihilate kaffirs.

Nothing short of a nuclaer strike would shake them up.

 

[Kshatriya87]

Those who are willing to blow themselves up to kill kafirs don't care really. MOAB or FOAB of Russia won't stop them.

The fountain head of terrorism is not in Afghanistan or Pakistan but is there in Saudi Arabia. Unless and until this is dropped over there by the US or Russian Air Forces, it will not calm these lunatics down.

I don't agree with Malala's statement in defending Islamists, but this would do nothing. The message holds an important warning to those who want self-preservation. Japan woke up because it didn't want to be erased from the map of earth.

However, Islamists don't care. Their religion guarantees them a paradise with 72 virgins and unending array of pleasures. They are prepared to die and complete their religious duty to convert or annihilate kaffirs.

Nothing short of a nuclaer strike would shake them up.

Dropping a nuke will only give the maulanas an excuse to promote jihad even more.

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

US drops largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan, first time used in combat

The US military has used its GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed “the mother of all bombs,” for the first time in combat. The US Air Force used it in Afghanistan to target Islamic State tunnels and personnel.
The 21,000-pound (9,525 kg) bomb was dropped in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.

The Pentagon has confirmed the use of the MOAB, and is currently assessing damage. General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on its use, CNN reported. Authority was also sought from General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM).


“The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, referring to Islamic State Khorasan, the branch of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

Nicholson described the MOAB as “the right munition to reduce” the improvised explosive devices (IEDs), bunkers and tunnels IS is using to “thicken their defense.” The bomb will also “maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K,” he said.

The Air Force “took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties,” CENTCOM said.

https://www.rt.com/usa/384646-pentagon-afghanistan-bomb-drop/

US is playing with fire in ME. Such acts of chest thumping will only weaken their global image especially among muslims. Meanwhile China is gaining popularity among people for their neutrality on ME issues.

 

[HeinzGud]

Those who are willing to blow themselves up to kill kafirs don't care really. MOAB or FOAB of Russia won't stop them.

The fountain head of terrorism is not in Afghanistan or Pakistan but is there in Saudi Arabia. Unless and until this is dropped over there by the US or Russian Air Forces, it will not calm these lunatics down.

I don't agree with Malala's statement in defending Islamists, but this would do nothing. The message holds an important warning to those who want self-preservation. Japan woke up because it didn't want to be erased from the map of earth.

However, Islamists don't care. Their religion guarantees them a paradise with 72 virgins and unending array of pleasures. They are prepared to die and complete their religious duty to convert or annihilate kaffirs.

Nothing short of a nuclaer strike would shake them up.

They wait silently until the time is ripe.

 

[Mikesingh]

Didn't expect this from G. D. Bakshi. In the news he kept saying that this bomb goes underground 40 to 50 feet and then explodes whereas the name itself suggests air blast.

The MOAB is not a penetrator weapon and is primarily an air burst ordnance intended for soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas and targets in a contained environment such as a deep canyon or within a shallow cave system.

The MOAB is designed to destroy a lot of targets on the surface — unlike the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the only US conventional bomb that’s larger than the MOAB (and one that has yet to be used in combat). The MOP is designed to destroy hardened tunnels and bunkers, whereas the MOAB is designed to destroy buildings and things on or just below the surface, like shallow caves.

And yes, the MOAB is a thermobaric weapon which releases a mist of ammonium nitrate and then ignites it producing a massive blast.

Gen Bakshi needs to brush up his knowledge!






.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Razor]

314 million $ for 20 bombs, that would be 16 million $ each.

Purchased during Obama period.

Apparently this is also wrong.

This MOAB is manufactured inhouse by the USAF and budgeting for of different components come under different headings and an effort to consolidate all the items and determine a price has not been made by the USAF. Hence price unknown.

 

[ezsasa]

Michael Kugelman is known expert in policy circles as an south-asia expert, usually gives good analysis. he keeps getting trolled by pakis on twitter whenever he says something bad about pakiland. in my personal opinion, i think he is biased towards pakistan. his twitter feed will confirm this..

kugelman says 13 indians were killed by MOAB.This interview raises a few questions
1) How come this aspect is being discussed in german media and not in indian media ?
2) If true, how come we don't know about it ?
3) If false, How come nobody is correcting this?

=======
How active are Indian jihadists in Afghanistan?

On April 13, the United States dropped its biggest non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan on an "Islamic State" (IS) target. The so-called '"mother of all bombs" (MOAB) killed at least 96 IS fighters, according to Afghan officials. Surprisingly, 13 of them were from India.

IS in Afghanistan is known to have recruited hundreds of local fighters as well as militants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Central and Southeast Asia, but an active involvement of Indian jihadists in IS' Afghanistan operations is not well documented.


In an interview with DW, Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, says there's good reason to believe there could be Indian extremists in Afghanistan.

DW: Not much is known about the activities of Indian militants in Afghanistan. What can you tell us about it?

Michael Kugelman: I think the broader question is why Afghanistan is becoming so attractive to extremists on the whole. Over the last few years there has been an influx of extremists from around the broader region - the militant network in Afghanistan is much more diverse and international than merely the Taliban and al Qaeda. Clearly what appeals to extremists about Afghanistan is its growing swath of lawless and hard-to-navigate territory, which provides ideal conditions for sanctuaries. These are conditions that appeal to extremists of all types, whether we're talking about Indian militants, jihadists from Central Asia, or Arab fighters from the Middle East.

This is one of the few cases, if not the first, in which Indian extremists have been killed in Afghanistan. Are Indian militants active across Afghanistan?

There's reason to believe that al Qaeda, and particularly AQIS - al Qaeda's South Asian regional affiliate - could feature some Indian nationals. Let's not forget that the supreme leader of AQIS is widely believed to be an Indian. Al Qaeda, despite claims to the contrary, remains a serious threat in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.

Also, based on recent history, there's good reason to believe there could be Indian extremists in Afghanistan. Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) has had a presence in Afghanistan, and for quite some time LeT partnered closely with Indian Mujahideen, an al Qaeda-aligned Indian terror group, which has since been decimated.


Kugelman: 'There's good reason to believe there could be Indian extremists in Afghanistan'

The bottom line is that given the types of terror groups that have operated in Afghanistan, both past and present, there's reason to believe that there could be some Indians among them.

Are Indian PM Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalistic policies pushing some Indian Muslims toward extremist groups in Afghanistan?

It's true that Indian Muslims have faced new and growing challenges of discrimination and marginalization in India, though it's doubtful this has had a radicalizing effect and led some to join IS. I think it's highly unlikely that radicalized young Indian Muslims are gravitating to IS en masse, though one can't discount the possibility that if current conditions remain in place, you may eventually have this dynamic play out, albeit on a modest scale. For all the challenges and problems they face, Indian Muslims, on the whole, are treated better than religious minorities are in many other countries.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense also confirmed that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Philippine nationals were among those killed in the MOAB attack. Is Afghanistan becoming a favorite destination for jihadists willing to join IS ranks?

For quite some time in previous years, when we thought of top destinations for global terrorists, Pakistan was at the top of the list. But aggressive counterterrorism operations by the Pakistani army in the tribal areas - long South Asia's ground zero for militant safe havens - have shifted the calculus. First, counterterrorism operations have pushed many Pakistan-based terrorists across the border into Afghanistan. Second, these operations have prompted other terrorists from the region and beyond to view Afghanistan as a more attractive destination because the law and order situation is so much worse there.

In effect, Islamist extremists far and wide are starting to see Afghanistan as a more coveted address than Pakistan because the real estate is simply more attractive and safe havens are so much easier to establish.

I think that IS' star is falling in Afghanistan. Several years ago it was developing a strong profile, at a time when IS was going on the offensive around the world by staging attacks in so many places and enjoying a strong grip on its Middle East-based "caliphate." But over the last year, as IS has lost much of its territory in the Middle East, the US has worked closely with Afghanistan to degrade the organization's infrastructure and capacities in Afghanistan, mainly through airstrikes. Also, IS has not endeared itself to anyone with its particularly brutal tactics in eastern Afghanistan, making the Taliban look like a modest force in the eyes of local communities.

I am not saying IS is on life support in Afghanistan, but it's certainly struggling in a big way. The Taliban have always been the top militant threat in Afghanistan, and as IS continues to get beaten down there, the strength of the Taliban will be amplified even more.

Michael Kugelman is a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.

The interview was conducted by Masood Saifullah.

http://www.dw.com/en/how-active-are-indian-jihadists-in-afghanistan/a-38487979

 

[Armand2REP]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was a Saudi airstrike in Yemen.

 

[pmaitra]

The MOAB is not a penetrator weapon and is primarily an air burst ordnance intended for soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas and targets in a contained environment such as a deep canyon or within a shallow cave system.

The MOAB is designed to destroy a lot of targets on the surface — unlike the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the only US conventional bomb that’s larger than the MOAB (and one that has yet to be used in combat). The MOP is designed to destroy hardened tunnels and bunkers, whereas the MOAB is designed to destroy buildings and things on or just below the surface, like shallow caves.

And yes, the MOAB is a thermobaric weapon which releases a mist of ammonium nitrate and then ignites it producing a massive blast.

Gen Bakshi needs to brush up his knowledge!






.

This is the first technical post in this thread. Thanks.

So, this is essentially a thermobaric munition.

 

[bhramos]

The MOAB is not a penetrator weapon and is primarily an air burst ordnance intended for soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas and targets in a contained environment such as a deep canyon or within a shallow cave system.

The MOAB is designed to destroy a lot of targets on the surface — unlike the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the only US conventional bomb that’s larger than the MOAB (and one that has yet to be used in combat). The MOP is designed to destroy hardened tunnels and bunkers, whereas the MOAB is designed to destroy buildings and things on or just below the surface, like shallow caves.

And yes, the MOAB is a thermobaric weapon which releases a mist of ammonium nitrate and then ignites it producing a massive blast.

Gen Bakshi needs to brush up his knowledge!






.

US MOAB effect Before & after

you are correct, the cave system didnt destroy, only the town above tunnel destroyed.....

 

[Neo]

Michael Kugelman is known expert in policy circles as an south-asia expert, usually gives good analysis. he keeps getting trolled by pakis on twitter whenever he says something bad about pakiland. in my personal opinion, i think he is biased towards pakistan. his twitter feed will confirm this..

kugelman says 13 indians were killed by MOAB.This interview raises a few questions
1) How come this aspect is being discussed in german media and not in indian media ?
2) If true, how come we don't know about it ?
3) If false, How come nobody is correcting this?

=======
How active are Indian jihadists in Afghanistan?

On April 13, the United States dropped its biggest non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan on an "Islamic State" (IS) target. The so-called '"mother of all bombs" (MOAB) killed at least 96 IS fighters, according to Afghan officials. Surprisingly, 13 of them were from India.

IS in Afghanistan is known to have recruited hundreds of local fighters as well as militants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Central and Southeast Asia, but an active involvement of Indian jihadists in IS' Afghanistan operations is not well documented.


In an interview with DW, Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, says there's good reason to believe there could be Indian extremists in Afghanistan.

DW: Not much is known about the activities of Indian militants in Afghanistan. What can you tell us about it?

Michael Kugelman: I think the broader question is why Afghanistan is becoming so attractive to extremists on the whole. Over the last few years there has been an influx of extremists from around the broader region - the militant network in Afghanistan is much more diverse and international than merely the Taliban and al Qaeda. Clearly what appeals to extremists about Afghanistan is its growing swath of lawless and hard-to-navigate territory, which provides ideal conditions for sanctuaries. These are conditions that appeal to extremists of all types, whether we're talking about Indian militants, jihadists from Central Asia, or Arab fighters from the Middle East.

This is one of the few cases, if not the first, in which Indian extremists have been killed in Afghanistan. Are Indian militants active across Afghanistan?

There's reason to believe that al Qaeda, and particularly AQIS - al Qaeda's South Asian regional affiliate - could feature some Indian nationals. Let's not forget that the supreme leader of AQIS is widely believed to be an Indian. Al Qaeda, despite claims to the contrary, remains a serious threat in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.

Also, based on recent history, there's good reason to believe there could be Indian extremists in Afghanistan. Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) has had a presence in Afghanistan, and for quite some time LeT partnered closely with Indian Mujahideen, an al Qaeda-aligned Indian terror group, which has since been decimated.


Kugelman: 'There's good reason to believe there could be Indian extremists in Afghanistan'

The bottom line is that given the types of terror groups that have operated in Afghanistan, both past and present, there's reason to believe that there could be some Indians among them.

Are Indian PM Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalistic policies pushing some Indian Muslims toward extremist groups in Afghanistan?

It's true that Indian Muslims have faced new and growing challenges of discrimination and marginalization in India, though it's doubtful this has had a radicalizing effect and led some to join IS. I think it's highly unlikely that radicalized young Indian Muslims are gravitating to IS en masse, though one can't discount the possibility that if current conditions remain in place, you may eventually have this dynamic play out, albeit on a modest scale. For all the challenges and problems they face, Indian Muslims, on the whole, are treated better than religious minorities are in many other countries.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense also confirmed that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Philippine nationals were among those killed in the MOAB attack. Is Afghanistan becoming a favorite destination for jihadists willing to join IS ranks?

For quite some time in previous years, when we thought of top destinations for global terrorists, Pakistan was at the top of the list. But aggressive counterterrorism operations by the Pakistani army in the tribal areas - long South Asia's ground zero for militant safe havens - have shifted the calculus. First, counterterrorism operations have pushed many Pakistan-based terrorists across the border into Afghanistan. Second, these operations have prompted other terrorists from the region and beyond to view Afghanistan as a more attractive destination because the law and order situation is so much worse there.

In effect, Islamist extremists far and wide are starting to see Afghanistan as a more coveted address than Pakistan because the real estate is simply more attractive and safe havens are so much easier to establish.

I think that IS' star is falling in Afghanistan. Several years ago it was developing a strong profile, at a time when IS was going on the offensive around the world by staging attacks in so many places and enjoying a strong grip on its Middle East-based "caliphate." But over the last year, as IS has lost much of its territory in the Middle East, the US has worked closely with Afghanistan to degrade the organization's infrastructure and capacities in Afghanistan, mainly through airstrikes. Also, IS has not endeared itself to anyone with its particularly brutal tactics in eastern Afghanistan, making the Taliban look like a modest force in the eyes of local communities.

I am not saying IS is on life support in Afghanistan, but it's certainly struggling in a big way. The Taliban have always been the top militant threat in Afghanistan, and as IS continues to get beaten down there, the strength of the Taliban will be amplified even more.

Michael Kugelman is a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.

The interview was conducted by Masood Saifullah.

http://www.dw.com/en/how-active-are-indian-jihadists-in-afghanistan/a-38487979

Some idiot was claiming that 500 ISI operatives had been killed lol. This seems quite the opposite now doesn't it?