WASHINGTON: The US military on Thursday dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat, targeting a complex of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

The target was close to the Pakistani border.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb hit a `tunnel complex` in Achin district in Nangarhar province, US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement. The strike occurred at 7.32pm.

`The GBU-43/Bis the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat,` Air Force spokesman Colonel Pat Ryder said.

`As (ISIS-Khorasan`s) losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defence,` said General John Nicholson, who heads US Forces Afghanistan. `This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our of fensive against ISIS-K.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: `We must deny them operational space, which we did.

The MOAB is better known by its nickname, the Mother of All Bombs, and was developed in 2002-03 around the time of the invasion of Iraq.-Agencies