BAGHDAD: Local authorities in Iraq's western Anbar province say government airstrikes have destroyed a women and children's hospital in Islamic State-held territory near the city of Fallujah, killing several people.

The Anbar provincial council says Iraqi warplanes were targeting IS militants in the village of Nassaf, 2 kilometers (mile) south of Fallujah, when the hospital there was hit on Thursday.

A senior official overseeing operations at several Fallujah-area hospitals says at least 22 women and children were killed in the airstrike. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to talk to reporters.

Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the Iraqi defense ministry, rejected claims of the airstrike. He says Iraqi troop do not target hospitals and schools or other civilian facilities, even if they are occupied by militants.