Herat, Afghanistan, Aug. 22 (Reuters): US-led coalition forces killed 76 Afghan civilians in western Afghanistan today, most of them children, the interior ministry said.

The coalition denied killing civilians.

“Seventy-six civilians, most of them women and children, were martyred today in a coalition forces operation in Herat province,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

The forces bombarded the Azizabad area of Shindand district in Herat province today afternoon, the ministry said. Nineteen of the victims were women, seven of them men and the rest children under the age of 15, it said.

The coalition forces said 30 militants had been killed in an air strike in Shindand district in the early hours today. Air strikes were called after Afghan and coalition soldiers were ambushed by insurgents while on a patrol targeting a known Taliban commander in Herat, the US military said in a statement.

“Insurgents engaged the soldiers from multiple points within the compound using small-arms and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire,” it said. “The joint forces responded with small-arms fire and an air strike killing 30 militants.”

Saeed Sharif, an elder and member of a local council where the strike took place, told Reuters many civilians were killed.

“Last night, around 2 am some people were attending a holy Quran recitation in Shindand district when Americans started bombing. Tens of civilians were killed,” Sharif said.

A senior police commander in western Afghanistan confirmed the incident but could not say how many civilians died.

“More than 30 people have been killed. I cannot say how many of them are civilians,” General Ikramuddin Yawar told Reuters.