British troops killed two Danish soldiers in a "friendly fire" attack in Afghanistan, the Danish equivalent of the Ministry of Defence said today.
Privates Mikkel Keil Sorensen and Thorbjorn Ole Reese were killed on September 26 in Helmand Province but the Danish report into their deaths was released only today. The two soldiers were part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and had been on operations north of Gereshk, trying to combat the Taliban, when they were killed.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps in Denmark concluded that they died during British strikes in what was a "tragic mistake" and the Ministry of Defence in Britain (MoD) has now pledged to carry out its own full investigation into the incident.Both soldiers died of shrapnel wounds during strikes by British troops, who thought they were firing at the Taliban, according to the Danish report into the incident. It said the soldiers were on duty in a compound to the north west of Helmand River on September 26 while British units were to the south east.The report concluded: "On the basis of the available information, the Judge Advocate General's Corps believes that the tragic mistake took place due to a confusion of the Danish compound with a known Taliban position."It was too soon to identify a reason for the confusion because the British investigation into the incident was ongoing, it added.