Russia has dropped the biggest non-nuclear bomb ever detonated on ISIS fighters near a Syrian city, according to unconfirmed reports.
The Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP) – also known as the Father of All Bombs’ – was reportedly dropped by the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor.
Activists posting on Twitter on September 7 claimed to have seen the bomb in action.
The Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP) – also known as the Father of All Bombs’ – was reportedly dropped by the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor
This was the same day the Russian Defence Ministry revealed it has killed several top Islamic State group commanders in a Facebook post.
‘As a result of a precision air strike of the Russian air forces in the vicinity of Deir Ezzor city, a command post, communication centre and some 40 ISIS fighters have been killed,’ it said.
These included US-trained ‘minister of war’ Gulmurod Khalimov, who has a $3 million bounty on his head, and the high-profile commander Abu-Muhammad al-Shimali.
So far, there has been no confirmation from the Russian Defence Ministry that the Father of All Bombs was dropped during the strike.
ISIS ‘minister of war’ Gulmurod Khalimov and Abu-Muhammad al-Shimali were both killed in a Russian airstrike on the same day the Father of All Bombs was allegedly dropped
The Father of All Bombs has rarely been officially photographed or videoed.
The huge munition works by releasing a cloud of flammable gas over its target before detonating, creating a deadly pressure wave that can crush hidden bunkers.
When it was first tested in 2007, Russian military sources said it was ‘comparable to nuclear weapons’.
A weapon in its same class, known as the Mother of All Bombs, was dropped by the Americans on a network of ISIS tunnels in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
A crater left by the blast is believed to be more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground. Anyone at the blast site was vaporized.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he was ‘very, very proud’ and called the operation ‘really another successful job’.
The huge munition works by releasing a cloud of flammable gas over its target before detonating, creating a deadly pressure wave that can crush hidden bunkers.
Pictured: A Russian bomber similar to one that would be used to drop the munition