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The U.S. military dropped the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal Thursday on a cave and tunnel complex that it said was used by Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan, a stark reminder of a U.S. war now in its 16th grinding year.

The behemoth bomb, officially called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, is also known as the "mother of all bombs." It is 30 feet long, weighs nearly 11 tons and produces a devastating above-ground explosion that sends a mushroom cloud roiling high in the sky.

Originally developed for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the MOAB has never been used in combat before.

Like the U.S. retaliatory missile strike in Syria last Friday, however, use of the monster munition in Afghanistan is more symbolic than tactical since it is unlikely to change the course of Americas longest war.

President Trump praised the attack as a "very, very successful mission." He indicated that he had given the Pentagon a free hand to use the weapon as part of his vow to step up the war on Islamic State.

"We have given them total authorization and thats what theyre doing and frankly thats why theyve been so successful lately, he told reporters at the White House. If you look at whats happened over the last eight weeks and compare that really to whats happened over the past eight years, youll see theres a tremendous difference, tremendous difference.

ALSO:U.S. military says misdirected airstrike in northern Syria killed 18 allied fighters

While the Pentagons formal rules of engagement have not changed, military commanders appear to have taken greater liberties in recent weeks and made more mistakes.

A series of misdirected U.S. attacks in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have led to a noticeable increase in reported civilian casualties. Earlier Thursday, the U.S. military announced an air strike this week had accidentally killed 18 rebel fighters battling Islamic State in northern Syria in the worst friendly-fire incident of that conflict.

The military said the giant MOAB was dropped from the rear door of an MC-130 cargo plane at 7:32 p.m. Thursday as part of a U.S.-backed offensive on an Islamic State stronghold in Achin district in Nangarhar province.

The bomb initially falls with a parachute to slow its descent and give the aircraft time to get away safely. Then a GPS system guides the bomb to its target.

The munition detonates before it hits the ground, igniting a flammable fuel mist that supposedly obliterates everything in a 1,000 yard radius, sends a lethal shock wave more than a mile and a half away, and creates a mushroom cloud nearly five miles high.

The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction" to the militants, the statement said.

Gen.John W. Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the militants used bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense.

This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive," Nicholson said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the massive bomb targeted tunnels and caves that militants used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target U.S. military advisers and Afghan forces in the area.

He said U.S. commanders took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation."

Speaking by phone from Achin district, Sher Nabi, a commander with the Afghan Local Police, said the bomb landed about a half mile outside the town of Shogal, near the border with Pakistan.

Nabi, who commands a 60-man unit of the government militia, said Afghan security forces have carried out operations in the area for several days against suspected Islamic State supporters.

Nabi said that the bomb killed "many militants" and destroyed their weapons. There were no immediate reports of civilian casualties.

The air strike apparently was in the same area where Army Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Maryland, was killed on Saturday after coming under fire.

He was the first American service member killed in combat this year in Afghanistan, and the 1,833rd since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.

The GBU-43 bomb was developed in 2002 to put pressure on then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to cease and desist or the United States would not only have the means but use them against the unpopular tyrant, the Air Force said in 2005 news release.

ALSO:White House calls Russian denials on Syrian gas attack a 'coverup'

It was tested at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida but was not used in Iraq. On March 11, 2003, a test produced a mushroom cloud visible from 20 miles away, the release said.

Another U.S. munition, officially called the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, or MOP, is designed to penetrate hardened bunkers. At 30,000 pounds, it is even heavier than the MOAB but carries less explosive power.

Special correspondent Sultan Faizy contributed from Kabul, Afghanistan.

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Air Force drops non-nuclear 'mother of all bombs' in Afghanistan - Los Angeles Times

A statement released by "the joint command operation center of Syrian allies," a group that includes Russia and Iran, warned the U.S. against further military actions in the war-torn country, following a missile strike on a Syrian air base last week.

Referring to its defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the group warned that they would support Syria and its people "with all means that we have."

"The United States crossed red lines by attacking Syria, from now on we will respond to anyone, including America if it attacks Syria and crosses the red lines," the statement read. "America knows very well our ability and capabilities to respond well to them, [and] we will respond without taking into consideration any reaction and consequences."

The statement did not include critical details like what kind of military operation would cross such a red line, or what kind of response would be made on the part of Syria and its allies, but noted that they would work to "liberate" Syria from occupation.

"Rest assured that we will liberate Syria from all kinds of occupying forces, it does not matter from where they came to the occupied part of Syria," the statement warned. "Russia and Iran will not allow the United States to be the only superpower in world."

The statement warned the U.S. that allies of Syria were "closely and deeply following American forces' moves and presence" in the areas of northern Syria and northwestern Iraq, and that they will "consider them [to be] an occupying force."

Russia and Iran have backed Assad in Syrias six-year-long conflict, as has the Shia militia Hezbollah. The United States and other Western countries have thrown their support behind rebels fighting the Syrian regime.

The statement follows heated rhetoric from American lawmakers suggesting that Syrian allies like Russia may have had prior knowledge of the chemical attack that took place in Syria last week, killing scores of civilians, including many children.

Earlier on Sunday, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC News' "This Week" that Russia is "complicit" in the chemical attack in Syria.

"Absolutely they're complicit," Schiff told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. "Russian intelligence may not be as good as ours, but it's good enough to know the Syrians had chemical weapons, were using chemical weapons."

The question of Russian complicity in the attack also came up in an earlier interview on "This Week" Sunday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Tillerson said he has "not seen any hard evidence" that Russians were involved in planning or carrying out the attack.

But the secretary of state said when he meets with the Russian foreign minister this week, he will bring up Russia's obligation under a 2013 agreement to ensure the Syrian government got rid of its chemical weapons.

"It agreed to be the guarantor of the elimination of the chemical weapons, and why Russia has not been able to achieve that is unclear to me," Tillerson said. "Clearly they've been incompetent and perhaps they've just simply been out-maneuvered by the Syrians."

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Russia and Iran say U.S. 'crossed red lines' with strike on ...

Iran "won't be quiet" after the U.S. missile attack that hit a number of military targets in central Syria, Iran's parliament news agency, ICANA.ir,reported Friday.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, declared "Russia and Iran won't be quiet against such acts which violate interests of the region," according to the report.

Boroujerdi warned serious consequences would follow the U.S. action.

SYRIA CALLS MISSILE ATTACK 'RECKLESS IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR'

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to Twitter on Friday to denounce the strikes, saying: "Not even two decades after 9/11, U.S. military fighting on same side as al-Qaida & ISIS in Yemen & Syria. Time to stop hype and cover-ups."

Zarif also called the allegation that the Syrian military used chemical weapons as bogus.

ABOUT 20 SYRIAN JETS DESTROYED IN AIRSTRIKE, DEFENSE OFFICIALS SAY

"US aids Saddam's use of CW against Iran in 80's; then resorts to military force over bogus CW allegations: 1st in 2003 and now in Syria, Zarif tweeted.

The U.S. strike came in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians.

About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base, southeast of Homs, a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria. The U.S. missiles hit at 3:45 a.m. Friday morning and targeted the base's airstrips, hangars, control tower, and ammunition areas, U.S. officials said.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Friday the U.S missile strike was dangerous, destructive and violates the principles of international law, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Ghasemi described Iran as "the biggest victim of chemical weapons in recent history," referencing Iraqi use of the weapons during its 1980s war with the Islamic Republic. He said Iran condemned the missile launch "regardless of the perpetrators and the victims" of Tuesday's chemical weapons attack in Syria.

He also warned it would "strengthen terrorists" and further add to "the complexity of the situation in Syria and the region."

Iran is one of the biggest supporters of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Its hardline paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is deeply involved in the war. America's Sunni Arab allies in the Gulf view Syria as a proxy conflict between it and Shiite power Iran.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Iran issues threat over US strikes in Syria | Fox News

Russia, Syria and Iran strongly warned the United States Friday against launching new strikes on Syria and called for an international probe into last week's chemical attack there.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who hosted his Iranian and Syrian counterparts at a trilateral meeting in Moscow, denounced last week's U.S. attack on Syria as a "flagrant violation" of international law and warned that any further such action would entail "grave consequences not only for regional but global security."

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said the meeting sent a "strong message" to Washington. Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that the participants warned that any unilateral action by the U.S. is unacceptable.

The U.S. has blamed the Syrian government for launching a deadly chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed over 80 people on April 4, and responded by striking a Syrian air base. Russia has alleged that the victims were killed by toxic agents released from a rebel chemical arsenal and warned against putting the blame on Damascus until an independent inquiry has been conducted.

Moscow vetoed a Western draft U.N. resolution Wednesday, saying it failed to mention the need to inspect the area of the attack.

Lavrov on Friday accused the U.S. and its allies of what he described as attempts to stymie an international probe into the attack. He expressed strong skepticism about a preliminary investigation conducted by the U.N. chemical weapons watchdog, saying that its experts have failed to visit the site and it has remained unclear to Russia where the samples have been taken and how they have been analyzed.

In Russia's view, the probe conducted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons should be widened to include experts from many nations, he said.

"If our U.S. colleagues and some European nations believe that their version is right, they have no reason to fear the creation of such an independent group," Lavrov added. "The investigation into this high-profile incident must be transparent and leave no doubt that someone is trying to hide something."

Lavrov said the U.S. strike on the Syrian base has undermined peace efforts in Syria and reflected Washington's focus on ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. "Such attempts won't succeed," Lavrov said.

The three ministers also discussed the beefing up of U.S. forces on Jordan's border with Syria. Moallem said. He added that Russia, Iran and Syria have "common procedures against any aggression," but wouldn't offer any specifics.

Lavrov that Moscow has asked Washington about the purpose of the buildup and received assurances they were there to cut supply lines between the Islamic State group factions in Syria and Iraq.

"We will keep monitoring the issue, since the only possible reason for using military force on the territory of Syria is to fight terrorism," Lavrov said.

Russia has staunchly backed Assad's government throughout a civil war that has dragged into a seventh year. It has conducted an air campaign in Syria since September 2015, saving Assad from imminent collapse and helping reverse military fortunes.

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Russia, Iran and Syria issue warning to US - ABC News

The Trump administration is leveling new economic sanctions against senior Iranian officials and its prison system for widespread human rights abuses, including the systematic torture of those being held in these facilities, according to White House officials familiar with the matter.

The latest sanctions target the Tehran Prisons Organization and Sohrab Suleimani, a senior official in the prison system and the brother of Qassem Soleimani, a senior Iranian military figure responsible for operating Iran's rogue activities in Syria and elsewhere.

Sohrab Soleimani is responsible for overseeing Iran's notorious Evin Prison, which is known for torturous interrogations, forced interrogations, and widespread mistreatment of inmates.

The latest sanctions are certain to rankle Tehran, already the subject of a range of new sanctions under the Trump administration, which is currently conducting a widespread review of all matters related to the landmark nuclear agreement.

A senior official on the White House National Security Council told theWashington Free Beaconthat the Soleimani family has a history of fomenting violence and unrest both inside and outside Iran.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.

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Trump administration sanctions Iran prison torture industry - Fox News