The U.S. military said attack helicopters struck two vehicles carrying insurgents Friday in eastern Afghanistan. The province’s governor said 22 civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed.

Lieutenant Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said the airstrikes in Nuristan Province had hit militants who earlier attacked a U.S. military base with mortars. The helicopters identified the militants’ firing positions, tracked them down and destroyed the vehicles that they were traveling in, he said.

Tamim Nuristani, the governor of Nuristan Province, said 22 civilians had been killed. “This afternoon, two civilian vehicles were hit by airstrikes,” Nuristani said.

Among those killed were a woman and a child. All 22 bodies were taken to a provincial hospital, Nuristani said. Seven other people were wounded, he said.

Nuristani said the U.S. military base was about 9 kilometers, or 6 miles, away from the place where the airstrike happened, said.

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