WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have discussed the rising number of "insider" attacks in which Afghan security forces have turned their guns on American and other coalition troops.
Spokesman George Little said Panetta and Karzai talked by phone on Saturday.
Panetta encouraged Karzai to work with U.S. commanders to ensure more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits.
The call was a sign of growing concern in Washington about the insider threat, particularly because American and allied troops are now working more closely with the Afghan army and police in preparation for the transition to complete Afghan security control by 2014.
In the latest incident, an Afghan police officer on Friday shot to death two U.S. servicemen during a training exercise in the western province of Farah.
