I'm a bit confused regarding the interaction of Area Effect with target exclusion rules.

For example, the rules for the Bomber trait states that the flight is "unable to make attacks on fighters". But what if you are attacking an enemy ship that happens to be surrounded by fighters? Are the fighters immune to the large explosion caused by the attack? Or do they take damage since they weren't "attacked" but were instead subjected to "to hit rolls" caused by the Area Effect trait?

Or perhaps you can't even fire the weapon since an Area Effect weapon attacks an area of space rather than a ship OR a fighter.

Any clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks!
   -Democratus