AFGHANISTAN descended into further violence yesterday with 14 police officers and soldiers left dead by Taliban attacks in the capital Kabul.

Nine soliders were killed when an army unit in the Ab Kamari district was attacked by gunmen; five officers were killed in an attack on a police station in Qadis shortly afterwards, according to deputy police chief Ghulam Sarwar Haidari.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the insurgent group was responsible for the attacks.

The killings follow 57 deaths when a voter registration centre was bombed on Sunday, in an attack carried out by Isis. A further 119 people were injured in the suicide blast.

Isis said that Sunday’s attacks were targeting Shi’ite “apostates” who had been registering for national identity cards.

Isis are also believed to have been behind the killing of three university students in Nangarhar province’s Chaparhar district on Sunday.

The authorities in Afghanistan have struggled to cope with increased activities from the Taliban and a resurgent Isis, the death cult having been largely defeated in Syria and Iraq.

US and Afghan forces have been conducting counterterrorism operations, including air strikes, to stop the jihadists from gaining a foothold in the country.

Attacks by the groups see the Taliban hitting government and security forces while Isis target the country’s Shi’ite minority.

Four police officers were killed yesterday and three wounded in Bala Buluk district after a two-hour gun battle in which three Taliban fighters were also shot dead, government spokesman Mohammad Naser Mehri said.