KABUL - The US military on Thursday dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb used in combat to strike an Islamic State target in Afghanistan.

It marked the first time the GBU-43 or Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), nicknamed "the mother of all bombs", has been used in combat.

US President Donald Trump, who gave the order to deploy the MOAB against an IS cave complex in Nangarhar province, said it was a "success".

As many as 36 suspected IS militants were killed by the bomb, the Afghan Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the area "while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities," the Pentagon said in a statement.

ISIS-K is the terror group's affiliate in Afghanistan.

The bomb, weighing about 9.5 tons, is designed to take out deeply buried targets like reinforced bunkers, and can unleash 11 tons of explosives.

Questioned

However, Trump's decision has already been questioned by political opponents, and the military effect on Afghan war is doubted by many.

US Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said on Thursday the president needs to explain why the US military dropped the bomb, which had never been used in combat before.

"I don't know if the use of MOAB is wise or not," Schatz said. "But the Commander in Chief or his people should explain what they did and why."

Douglas Macgregor, a retired army colonel, said: "Strategically, the strike had no impact on the war in Afghanistan where 40,000 Taliban fighters are regaining the ground lost over the last few years and crushing the US trained-and-equipped Afghan army and police.

"The strike is not meaningful in any strategic sense. The only conclusion any reasonable military analyst can reach is that the president is badly advised."

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the US decision, saying: "I vehemently and in strongest words condemn the dropping of the latest weapon, the largest non-nuclear bomb, on Afghanistan by the US military.

"This is not the War on Terror, but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and dangerous weapons," he said. "It is upon us, Afghans, to stop the US."

Igor Morozov, member of the Russian Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik on Thursday the use of the bomb threatens to trigger a new arms race.

"The US test of the new bomb in Afghanistan is an attempt to establish the world dominance with an element of a military threat which may initiate a new round of arms race and increase tension in the world," Morozov said.

Morozov suggested Russia initiate a discussion about the recent US test at the UN Security Council.

Xinhua