U.S.’ big-bomb death toll grows
Explosion killed 94 militants, no civilians, Afghan official says
KABUL, Afghanistan — The number of militants killed in an attack by the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military has risen to 94, an Afghan official said Saturday.
Ataullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor in Nangarhar, said the number of slain Islamic State extremists was up from the 36 reported a day earlier. A Ministry of Defense official had said Friday that the number of dead could rise as officials assessed the bomb site in Achin district.
“Fortunately there is no report of civilians being killed in the attack,” Khogyani said.
The increased death toll in Nangarhar was announced as officials in southern Helmand province reported at least 11 civilians were killed and one wounded in two overnight roadside bomb blasts.
The U.S. attack Thursday on an Islamic State tunnel complex, in eastern Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border, killed at least four Islamic State leaders, Khogyani said. He said a clearance operation to assess the site of the attack was ongoing.
The strike using the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, was carried out Thursday. Afghan forces had tried to assault the tunnel complex repeatedly in recent weeks in fierce fighting in Nangarhar province.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday criticized the Afghan and U.S. governments for the attack in Nangarhar. Addressing a gathering in the capital Kabul, Karzai said that allowing the U.S. to carry out the bombing was “treason” and an insult to Afghanistan.
Karzai on Saturday called his successor “a traitor” and declared that he wanted the Americans gone from the country. In an interview with
The New York Times, hours after he said he intended to work toward “ousting the U.S.,” Karzai said there was no justification for the U.S. to drop the GBU-43/B in Afghanistan.
He accused the U.S. military of using the presence of Islamic State militants to turn his country into a laboratory for testing its weapons.
Karzai called President Ashraf Ghani’s government an “accomplice” that allowed and welcomed the use of the bomb. Ghani’s government had said Friday that the attack, which was said to have killed dozens of militants and destroyed three large caves in Nangarhar province, was coordinated with the United States.
“Shame on him for saying that, shame, shame,” Karzai said. “No Afghan with self-respect would do that.” He added, “He is a traitor, a traitor.”
The U.S. estimates 600800 Islamic State fighters are in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar. The U.S. has concentrated on fighting them while also supporting Afghan forces against the Taliban. The U.S. has more than 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, training local forces and conducting counterterrorism operations.
In Helmand province, at least 11 civilians were killed and one wounded in two roadside bomb blasts late Friday, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
“All victims of the attack were innocent civilians, including women and children,” Zwak said.
The 11 died in a blast in Nawa district when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Another person was wounded when a second bomb exploded in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, he said.
Also Saturday, Khogyani said a district leader and three others were wounded when their vehicle was targeted by a bomb. One of the wounded was Ghalib Mujahid, Bati Kot district chief, he said.
“The district chief and others are out of danger and are not in life-threatening condition,” he said.
Last November, Mujahid was targeted with a sticky bomb attached to the vehicle. He was wounded, and his driver was killed.