Achin district governor, Ismail Shinwari, said in an interview with TOLOnews on Friday that a ground operation, with air support, was launched on Thursday night after the U.S Forces dropped a Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb on the district in their fight against Daesh.

Shinwari confirmed there had been no civilian casualties during the strike.

“Last night at around 7.30pm Daesh tunnels were bombed. The bomb was very strong in order to eliminate the enemy,” he said.

According to TOLOnews journalists in Nangarhar, U.S attack helicopters bombed Daesh strongholds dozens of times on Friday – but no details have been given regarding casualties in these strikes.  

TOLOnews reporter Karim Amini also said a large deployment of U.S Special Forces had been sighted at the blast scene.  

Meanwhile, Achin district residents, who have in recent months fled their homes because of Daesh activity, on Friday welcomed the move and called on government to continue their clearance operations.

“Lots of Daesh militants were there when the bomb was dropped; approximately 70 Daesh militants have been killed. It is good news that Daesh militants were killed. There were no civilian casualties,” said Achin resident, Palaster Khan.