KABUL, Afghanistan, June 18 — Seven children were killed during an airstrike by the American-led coalition against a religious compound thought to be an Al Qaeda sanctuary in remote eastern Afghanistan, the coalition reported today.

The death of the children, tragic enough by itself, may well add to the growing anger many Afghans feel about civilian casualties from American and NATO military operations. More than 130 civilians have been killed in such airstrikes and shootings in just the last six months, according to Afghan officials.

“We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack,” Maj. Chris Belcher of the United States Army said of Sunday’s raid against several structures, including a school and mosque, in Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan. “We had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building.”

There are more than 50,000 foreign troops operating in Afghanistan, the bulk of them American. One NATO soldier and two Afghan policemen died today during heavy fighting that killed “a large number of enemy extremist fighters” in Uruzgan Province in the south of the country, according to a NATO news release.