Pentagon officials on Friday said that the United States commander, who ordered the use of "mother of all bombs" to attack an Islamic State (ISIS) stronghold in Afghanistan, did not need US President Donald Trump's approval to set off the massive bomb.
"The number of Daesh fighters killed in the US bomb in Achin district jumped to 94, including four commanders", Nangarhar provincial spokesman Attaullah Khogiani told CNN.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb - dubbed the "Mother Of All Bombs" - was unleashed in combat for the first time, hitting IS positions in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday. The death toll from Thursday's attack was initially put at 36.
The bomb destroyed three underground tunnels, weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, CNN reported, citing USA and Afghan officials.
The U.S. estimates 600-800 IS fighters are in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar.
However, former Afghan president Hamiz Karzai condemned the attack, saying that the U.S. was using their soil to test weapons.
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The tunnels, top military commanders said, were slowing the process of eradicating the terrorist from Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump said this week he would be sending his new national security adviser, Lt. Gen. HR McMaster, to Afghanistan "to find out how we can make progress alongside our Afghan partners and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies".
Current President Ashraf Ghani's office said Friday there was "close coordination" between the USA military and the Afghan government on the operation, and they were careful to prevent any civilian casualties.
When he was asked about the timing of the unprecedented strike, and whether it had been influenced by the White House, Nicholson said, "In regard to timing, it's when we encountered this target on the battlefield".
Meanwhile, the revised figure was reported after US-led forces conducted clean-up operations in the bombed area, according to the news agency. At more than 30 feet long, it's too big to fit inside the weapons bay of a standard Air Force bomber. The rocky landscape is dotted with caves and defensive tunnels, making it easy to hold and hard to attack, according to Nic Robertson, CNN's worldwide diplomatic editor, who has reported from the Afghan mountains.
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