KABUL, Afghanistan – An overnight raid early Friday killed six militants and two civilians in western Afghanistan, the U.S. coalition said.

The raid in Farah province targeted a Taliban commander named Mullah Fazel, said Ghulam Farooq Nahimi, an Afghan army commander. Nahimi said Fazel was killed in the raid, though Farah's deputy governor said Fazel was alive but had serious wounds.

The operation killed a woman and child in Fazel's compound, Nahimi said. He said the operation in Bakwa district involved airstrikes.

The U.S.-led coalition said militants ambushed a combined patrol of Afghan and coalition troops from an isolated compound with “intense and accurate” gunfire and rocket propelled grenades.

The coalition said six militants and two civilians were killed during the battle. Two civilians were also wounded, it said. They were evacuated to a coalition medical facility.

The issue of civilian casualties in military raids is particularly sensitive in Afghanistan right now. The Afghan government and the United Nations mission here has said that a U.S.-led raid in Herat province last month killed 90 civilians, including 60 children.

The U.S. coalition said its investigation found that 30 to 35 militants and up to seven civilians were killed in that operation in Azizabad village.

More than 3,800 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.