IS death toll hits 90 from huge US bomb in Afghanistan

IS death toll hits 90 from huge US bomb in Afghanistan

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (APP/AFP) - Afghan authorities Saturday reported a jump in fatalities from the American military's largest non-nuclear bomb, declaring some 90 Islamic State fighters dead, as US-led ground forces advanced on their mountain hideouts.

Dubbed the "Mother Of All Bombs", the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast was unleashed in combat for the first time Thursday, hitting IS positions in a remote area of eastern Nangarhar province.

The unprecedented attack triggered global shock waves, with some condemning the use of Afghanistan as what they called a testing ground for the weapon, and against a militant group that is not considered a threat as big as the resurgent Taliban.

The bomb smashed IS's hideouts, a tunnel-and-cave complex that had been mined against conventional ground attacks, engulfing the remote area in a huge mushroom cloud and towering flames.

"At least 92 Daesh (IS) fighters were killed in the bombing," Achin district governor Esmail Shinwari told .