Big surprise here. “Afghan National Police penetrated by Taliban at ‘every level,'” by Thomas Harding and James Kirkup from the Telegraph, November 4 (thanks to Axel):
The Afghan National Police have been penetrated by the Taliban “at every level” with officers poorly trained, corrupt and some addicted to drugs, a former Army officer has said.
Capt Doug Beattie, who served two tours in Afghanistan working with the ANP, said many police officers are in the paid [sic] of insurgents and were more loyal to their tribes than the Afghan government.
British officers say that among low-ranking Afghan police, and particularly in more rural areas away from central control, there is widespread corruption and disloyalty….
Capt Beattie, who has retired from the Army, said: “It is absolutely right to say that the Afghan police are infiltrated by the Taliban at every level, from the very lowest to the very highest.”
The police officer who killed five British soldiers on Tuesday is understood to have been in the police for at least two years. That raises the possibility that he was paid to switch sides….