KABUL (AFP) - Two Afghan women were killed in an operation in eastern Afghanistan that also left 17 insurgents dead, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said Thursday. Local officials had previously said that two women and a child died in the fighting late Tuesday in the Dangam district of Kunar province. In a statement, Isaf said that as its troops were clearing a compound, they were fired upon while someone trained a spotlight in their direction. "The security forces returned fire, killing the insurgent and what turned out to be two women he was hiding behind," an Isaf statement said. It added that during the operation, Isaf troops "killed 17 insurgents including foreign fighters and detained one suspected insurgent while searching for an Al-Qaeda senior leader". Separately, three policemen were killed and six others wounded on Thursday when a bomb planted inside their minibus exploded in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said. The blast claimed by the Taliban took place in Jalalabad, the de facto capital of eastern Afghanistan. "The explosive material was set in the bus and went off when the policemen were en route to work" Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, provincial spokesman told AFP. "There were three police officers killed and six others wounded in the incident." He added that an investigation had been launched. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, telling AFP: "Our man planted the bomb inside the car and it killed nine policemen and injured two others". The Taliban are known to exaggerate details of their attacks. A spokesman for the local provincial hospital, Dr Sayed Afandi Sayed, said it had received three bodies and was treating six wounded police.