KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – The Taliban has vowed to “take serious revenge” afteran Afghan airstrike in an area controlled by the militant group killed orwounded dozens of people, many of them children.

The government and military have said the Afghan Air Force (AAF) hit aTaliban base in the northeastern province of Kunduz on Monday where seniorcommanders were meeting to plan attacks.

But Afghan security sources and witnesses have told AFP that AAFhelicopters struck a madrassa in Dashte Archi district where a graduationceremony for religious students was under way.

At least 59 people were killed, including Taliban commanders, according tosecurity sources. Health officials said at least 57 wounded were taken tohospital in the provincial capital Kunduz.

The Taliban issued a statement late Wednesday saying it “condemns in thestrongest terms this major crime and vows to take serious revenge againstthe perpetrators”.

An AFP photographer was among the first journalists to visit the scene ofthe airstrike on Wednesday after receiving permission from the Taliban. Itis deep inside Taliban-controlled territory and normally inaccessible tothe media.

The madrassa and mosque appeared to be undamaged. But in a field adjacentto the religious compound, where the graduation ceremony was purportedlyheld, AFP saw a hole in the ground that locals said was made by a rocket,though that could not be verified.

AFP also saw large piles of hats, turbans and shoes that were said tobelong to the victims of the airstrike. At least half a dozen freshly duggraves could be seen nearby.

Abdullah, 40, who lives near the compound housing the madrassa and mosqueand was invited to attend as a member of the local community, told AFP thathe saw the airstrike happen.

“We were about to finish the ceremony at 1:00 pm when (Afghan military)aircraft bombarded innocent children,” he said Wednesday.

“People were panicked. Children and elders were also wounded in thebombardment.”

Government officials in both Kabul and Kunduz have given conflictingfigures for the number of casualties, with some denying any civilians hadbeen killed or that a madrassa had been hit.

Afghan officials have been known to minimise civilian casualties.

The Afghan military initially denied civilians were among the dead andwounded, but later blamed the Taliban for shooting them. It said 18 Talibancommanders were killed and 12 were wounded in the airstrike.

But Naim Mangal, a doctor at the hospital where most of the wounded weretaken, told AFP that “all the victims” had been “hit by pieces of bomb,shrapnel”. – APP/AFP