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KABUL. – Dozens of civilians, including children, have been killed in an Afghan air attack on a gathering at a religious school in the northern province of Kunduz, eyewitnesses and officials said. A religious school in the Dasht-e-Archi district of the Kunduz province was targeted by air raids late on Sunday, resulting in the death of at least 70 people, including top Taliban commanders, a district official told Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media.

Ministry of Defence spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told Al Jazeera that the air raid was aimed at “top Taliban commanders”.

“The air strike killed more than 30 Taliban fighters, including nine commanders,” he said. “The Taliban training centre was bombed and no civilians were present.”

The Taliban denied its fighters were present at the school during the time of the attack.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the gathering included “a lot of civilians” and the families of those killed in the attack “were devastated”.

“There were children as young as 11 or 12 years old in the ceremony who were to be presented with awards and gifts for the completion of their religious courses,” Mohammed Abdul Haq, who witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera.
“Mothers are wailing and crying outside the hospitals for the death of their children and everyone is crying with them,” he added. – Al Jazeera.