Afghan officer kills Nato soldier as death toll for year reaches 38

Another Nato soldier was killed yesterday by an Afghan police officer, raising the coalition death toll from so-called “green on blue” shootings to nine in 11 days as the US urged Kabul to step up screening of recruits.

The growing insider threat has eroded trust between Nato and its Afghan allies, causing a headache for Western powers who are planning to pull out most of their troops by the end of 2014.

US defence secretary Leon Panetta and Afghan president Hamid Karzai agreed to boost vetting of Afghan recruits to try to end to the spiralling attacks, averaging one a week and surpassing last year’s toll.