An ex-member of the armed forces was quoted as saying insurgents had infiltrated the police 'at every level', while another claimed not to have been surprised by the attack.
The reports came as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) named the five soldiers shot by a training Afghan police officer in a military compound in Helmand province.
The five servicemen were: Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards; Sergeant Matthew Telford, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards; Guardsman James Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards; Acting Corporal Steven Boote, Royal Military Police; and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, Royal Military Police.
The Taliban have admitted to being behind the killings, but the man responsible has not yet been found. The incident is said to have left British soldiers now concerned about the security of training Afghan police.
Captain Doug Beattie, who mentored Afghan soldiers and police officers in Helmand in 2006/7, told The Guardian today: 'Whether people will admit this openly or not, it is a fact that the Afghan police have been infiltrated at every level by the insurgency.'
Today's concerns were raised as the UN said it was going to pull out 600 non-essential members of staff in the country; following attacks at a guesthouse which saw five UN workers killed.
An unnamed soldier today wrote in the Independent that he was not surprised a police recruit had attacked British soldiers. He wrote: 'Most of them were corrupt and took drugs, particularly opium.
'The lads would go into police stations at night and they would be stoned; sometimes they would fire indiscriminately at nothing.
'There were no security checks - they were literally allowed to come into the compound and we had to rely on the local chief of police, who recruited them.'
The number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001 now stands at 229.
Following this week's deaths defence secretary Bob Ainsworth said: 'I was extremely saddened to hear of the deaths of these courageous soldiers. My very deepest condolences go out to their families, friends and colleagues as they come to terms with the loss of these outstanding men.'
The reports came as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) named the five soldiers shot by a training Afghan police officer in a military compound in Helmand province.
The five servicemen were: Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards; Sergeant Matthew Telford, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards; Guardsman James Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards; Acting Corporal Steven Boote, Royal Military Police; and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, Royal Military Police.
The Taliban have admitted to being behind the killings, but the man responsible has not yet been found. The incident is said to have left British soldiers now concerned about the security of training Afghan police.
Captain Doug Beattie, who mentored Afghan soldiers and police officers in Helmand in 2006/7, told The Guardian today: 'Whether people will admit this openly or not, it is a fact that the Afghan police have been infiltrated at every level by the insurgency.'
Today's concerns were raised as the UN said it was going to pull out 600 non-essential members of staff in the country; following attacks at a guesthouse which saw five UN workers killed.
An unnamed soldier today wrote in the Independent that he was not surprised a police recruit had attacked British soldiers. He wrote: 'Most of them were corrupt and took drugs, particularly opium.
'The lads would go into police stations at night and they would be stoned; sometimes they would fire indiscriminately at nothing.
'There were no security checks - they were literally allowed to come into the compound and we had to rely on the local chief of police, who recruited them.'
The number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001 now stands at 229.
Following this week's deaths defence secretary Bob Ainsworth said: 'I was extremely saddened to hear of the deaths of these courageous soldiers. My very deepest condolences go out to their families, friends and colleagues as they come to terms with the loss of these outstanding men.'
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