Troops deaths in Afghanistan not friendly

An initial investigation into the death of two British soldiers in Afghanistan found the killings were not caused by "friendly fire," British officials said. Corporal Channing Day, 25, and Corporal David O'Connor, 27, were fatally injured while on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province Wednesday, Khaama Press reported. An Afghan man, believed to have been an off-duty member of the Afghan Uniformed Police, also died during the incident. A British defense ministry official said, "A joint incident assessment team, comprising specialists from International Security Assistance Force, along with representatives from the government of Afghanistan, have conducted an initial review at the scene and have concluded that this was not a blue-on-blue ["friendly fire"] incident, and that the deaths of Corporal O'Connor and Corporal Day were caused by a third party or parties whose identities have yet to be established but who are not UK personnel. "Further investigation into the involvement or otherwise of the dead Afghan male is ongoing", the official said adding that analysis of the event was "likely to take some time."