More than 50 suspected Taliban militants were killed in the restive province of Kandahar, said the U.S.-led coalition forces on Monday.

"Coalition forces conducted another successful operation in the Kandahar region near the village of Azizi that resulted in the unconfirmed deaths of more than 50 Taliban members," said the Coalition in its latest news release.

"This was the second such operation in this area within a week and the purpose of this operation was to detain individuals suspected of terrorist and anti-Afghanistan activities," it added.

However, witness at the site told Xinhua earlier that some civilians were killed in the airstrike.

"Over 50 people, 26 of them from one family, in Tolokan village were killed in the bombardments carried out by the foreign aircraft and 17 wounded people including women and children have been taken to Mirwias hospital in Kandahar city," said Atta Mohammad, who lost 26 members of his family.

"I only could bring 10 seriously injured members of my family to hospital," Mohammad added.

Xinhua's scribe in the hospital said that he saw some of the victims were badly wounded and that their faces were burned.

Mohammad said the air attacks began Sunday evening and continued till early Monday morning.

The bloody air raids conducted just couple of days after heavy clashes in Panjwai district where according to officials some 100 Taliban-linked militants, two French soldiers and one Canadian female soldier were killed last week.

Meanwhile, Abdul Qayum Pukhla, the head of the hospital, confirmed the admission of 17 wounded persons in the hospital.

Source: Xinhua