Kabul, Afghanistan – An attack that saw the United States drop the largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan was a “brutal act” against Afghan people, the environment and the country’s sovereignty, Hamid Karzai, former president, has told Al Jazeera.
The 9,797kg GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) was unleashed in combat for the first time on Thursday, targeting a complex of caves and tunnels used by ISIL fighters in Nangarhar province, according to the US army.
Dubbed the “Mother of All Bombs”, the device can devastate the area around its landing of a radius of more than 1.6km.
“This was an inhuman act, a brutal act against an innocent country, against innocent people, against our land, against our sovereignty, against our soil and against our future,” Karzai said in Kabul.
“A bomb of that magnitude has consequences for the environment, for our lives, for our plants, for our water, for our soil – this is poison.”
At least 90 ISIL fighters were killed in the attack, according to the US and Afghan armies.
For the most part, Afghan officials welcomed the bombing, saying it was a step towards security. They have also said that there were no civilian casualties.