Daily Times

PARACHINAR: The powerful bomb which was dropped by the US in Afghanistan also damaged buildings in Kurram Agency.

Cracks appeared in several houses, a mosque and an Imambargah at Malana village in the foothills of Speen Ghar.US officials claimed that the bomb, dubbed the mother of all bombs (MOAB),had targetted a base of the Islamic State (IS) group in Achin district.

MOAB left at least 90 people dead and reportedly destroyed IS infrastructure. Initially, the death toll was put at 36.

Residents at Malana village said that they had felt a tremor that shook their houses. “We felt light shocks, but did not realise it was because of a bomb,” said Muhammad Hassan, a resident of Malana.

He said that wide cracks had appeared in several houses and mosques in the area. It had also caused slight damage to houses in the Zeran area.

The MOAB attack also triggered global shockwaves, 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.

Separately, US National Security Advisor General HR McMaster arrived in Kabul on Sunday. On his first visit to the country as President Donald Trump’s envoy, McMaster said on Twitter he was set to hold “very important talks on mutual cooperation” with President Ashraf Ghani and other top officials.