Kabul, Nov. 5 A British war hero has warned that the Afghan national police has been "infiltrated at virtually every level" by the insurgency.

Capt Doug Beattie, who left the Army this year after 27 years' service, said: "The insurgency has infiltrated the police at virtually every level. Because they are poorly paid they take money from the highest bidder."

Beattie also claimed that in British-controlled Helmand province Afghan police officers were almost all drug users.

He also cited two incidents where Afghan national army soldiers had turned on British troops.

Captain Beattie won the Military Cross in Afghanistan in 2006 and served with the police both then and last year.

The Telegraph quoted him as saying that part of the problem was that the police had not been given the same resources and training as the Afghan army.

He alleged that a former chief of police in Helmand was caught talking directly to the Taliban on his personal phone on several occasions.

He said drugs were readily available and about 80 per cent of the police in Helmand were "habitual users of cannabis or heroin". (ANI)