The day after the U.S. dropped the “mother of all bombs,” American combat helicopters continued clearing Afghan territory in Nangarhar province, in the Achin district, where tunnels built by the mujahideen during the Soviet war (using American money, as Edward Snowden pointed out in a tweet) are now being used as tactical shelters by the Islamic State.
The district is largely deserted, and, according to the Afghan government, only a single family lived in the area of bombardment (the village of Mohmand Dara) and was evacuated in time. No civilians were killed, according to Kabul, only “Caliphate” militants.
The dead number at least 40, or as many as 70, but the toll is probably temporary, and so could the news of civilian casualties. At the very least, they have lost crops and houses in the operation, which unleashed 11 tons of explosives at a cost to American taxpayers of $15 million.