Experts question effectiveness of U.S. bomb in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The use of the “mother of all bombs” on an underground network of Islamic State tunnels in a remote district in Afghanistan was a lot of hype with little long-term impact, according to many military analysts.
While breathless coverage of the use of the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal gave the appearance that the Trump administration was taking assertive military action, the weapon itself fell far short of delivering a knockout blow to militants in the area.
Even if it had, military experts argue that the U.S. shouldn’t be focusing its energy on the relatively small threat of Islamic State in Afghanistan. The Taliban are the real problem, rapidly retaking key districts that U.S. and British troops fought bloody battles to capture just years ago.
“The Islamic State is on the fringe. It’s a small problem in Afghanistan compared to alQaida, the Taliban and other groups that operate there,” Bill Roggio, a military analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Thursday. “The U.S. military has, frankly, downplayed this problem with the Taliban.”
The GBU-43/B massive ordnance air blast bomb, which had never been used in combat before U.S. forces dropped it April 13, is designed to detonate 6 feet above the ground, creating horizontal pressure that destroys targets on the surface and just below it. The U.S. military said it was the right weapon for the right target: a reinforced cave and tunnel complex used by entrenched ISIS fighters.
But there is little indication that the bomb dealt a devastating blow to the Islamic State in the area. The district government of Achin, the town in Nangarhar province where the bomb exploded, has said that at least 90 fighters died in the blast.
But the U.S. military has made no independent damage assessment, and the area is still an active combat zone. The U.S. military has restricted access to the site, turning away reporters and independent investigators.
Gunfire was audible in the background of a video from local Afghan police posted this week that showed the rubble left behind by the bombing, and a BBC reporter who was able to access the site reported that fighting continues close to where the bomb hit.