U.S. Used a Special Hellfire Missile in Afghanistan Airstrike on Islamic State

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon utilised a special Hellfire missile that packs no explosives to strike Islamic State militants in Afghanistan on Saturday in retaliation for a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport past week, in accordance to two U.S. officers.

The airstrike, carried out by a Reaper drone flown from the Persian Gulf area, killed two militants affiliated with the Afghanistan offshoot of the Islamic State extremist group, and wounded a 3rd individual.

The Pentagon declined to launch the identities of any of the persons specific. Islamic State claimed duty for the Kabul airport attack that killed 13 American troops and approximately 200 Afghan civilians.

The missile utilised by the U.S. in the airstrike, called an R9X, is inert. Instead of exploding, the weapon ejects a halo of six massive blades stowed inside of the skin of the missile, which deploy at the past minute to shred the goal of the strike, allowing for armed forces commanders to pinpoint their goal and reduce the risk for civilian casualties.

The use of the special Hellfire missile, which inside of the armed forces is referred to colloquially as “the flying Ginsu,” recalling the common knives bought on Television set infomercials in the nineteen seventies, hadn’t been disclosed. The weapon also has been dubbed the “ninja bomb.”