Report: UK fears recruits to Afghan police force are unfit, illiterate and hooked on drugs

Britain worried over Afghan police standards

LONDON — Britain’s Foreign Office says the U.K. has deep concerns over progress in building an Afghan national police force.

Its comments come as the Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that, in a series of memos, Foreign Office officials complained about the standard of police recruits — criticizing the fitness, poor literacy and lax vetting of candidates.

It quoted one document suggesting drug testing for police should be compulsory.

The Foreign Office declined comment on the leaked documents, but said “challenges to police reform are significant and long term.”

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper quoted a separate memo in which Britain’s special representative in the region, Sherard Cowper-Coles, criticized Kabul officials as incompetent.