US suspends Afghan local police training

WASHINGTON - Due to a recent rise in "insider attacks" against NATO troops, the US forces in Afghanistan have suspended the training of about 1,000 Afghan local police recruits, pending re-vetting of current participants, the American Forces Press Service reported Sunday.

"While we have full trust and confidence in our Afghan partners, we believe this is a necessary step to validate our vetting process and ensure the quality indicative of Afghan Local Police," Thomas Collins, spokesman for the US Forces Afghanistan, said in a written statement.

But US officials emphasized that the partnered operations with Afghan forces will continue, and that NATO training for the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police are not affected by the suspension of training program for police recruits, the report said.

Under the program, US forces train Afghan local police recruits, in cooperation with Afghanistan's Interior Ministry and provincial police chiefs, to provide security in remote communities.

The move was taken after a recent spike in so-called "insider attacks" launched by Afghan police and soldiers against NATO troops, which has alarmed the US government and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

An Afghan man wearing the uniform of Afghan National Army shot dead three NATO soldiers on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 15 the total number of NATO troops killed in "insider attacks" in the month, and 45 in this year.