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Defense department releases MOAB footage

In this May 2004 photo, a group gathers around a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) weapon, on display at the Air Force Armament Museum on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Fla. U.S. forces in Afghanistan struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, April 13, 2017, with a GBU-43B, the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said. (Mark Kulaw/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP)
By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
April 14, 2017

The Department of Defense released footage of Thursday drop of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb strike.

The U.S. released the bomb over the Achin district in the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, targeting ISIS and the Syria-Khorasan tunnel complex.

The MOAB destroyed three underground tunnels but did not hurt any civilians, CNN reported. The 30-foot-long, 21,600-pound bomb is the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the U.S. military arsenal, capable of destroying an area equal to nine city blocks. It was the first time it was used in combat.

Explore>>What is the ‘mother of all bombs,’ and what does it do

The Afghan Ministry of Defense said the bombing killed 36 militants, CNN reported.

Gen. John Nicholson, US commander for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, said as he defended the use of the massive weapon that, “This was the right weapon against the right target”

WATCH: 5 Things To Know About The MOAB

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Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
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