KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents overran three checkpoints in nighttime raids on Tuesday in the western Afghan province of Farah, killing about 20 police officers before melting back into nearby villages, according to Afghan officials.

The province has been teetering from a wave of attacks by Taliban fighters using night-vision goggles, a technology that once gave the United States an edge in the war. Equipped with the devices, the Taliban quickly overwhelmed the checkpoints, said Dadullah Qani, a provincial council member in Farah, in a telephone interview.

Afghan officials have said that the night-vision goggles the Taliban have been using with such effect typically bear Russian markings, though their origin is unclear. Politicians in Kabul, the capital, have accused Russia of arming the Taliban.

The authorities in Moscow deny this. They say contacts established over the past several years with Taliban leaders are for discussions on countering a rival Islamist insurgent threat in Afghanistan, from the Islamic State, and on encouraging peace talks with the government.