A spate of assaults by suspected Taliban rebels killed eight policemen and wounded an election candidate, and Afghanistan warned today that aid workers and other “soft” targets were in danger of attack ahead of elections this month.

Gun battles, mine blasts and US air strikes on the day of Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban election left 38 people dead today, including three police officers escorting freshly filled ballot boxes, Afghan officials said.

Afghan security forces captured a brother-in-law of Mullah Omar on today as he drove near the fugitive Taliban leader’s home town.

Suspected Taliban gunmen stopped a van packed with people on a road in southern Afghanistan, then sprayed the occupants with bullets after finding that they had registered for upcoming national elections, a local police official said today.