Philip Hammond unaware of Nato's Afghan order Mr Hammond said he had not known about Gen Allen's order until he received a "routine briefing" on Monday afternoon, but that "no particular significance was attached to it." He also claimed that when he saw media reports about the order yesterday morning, he did not even immediately connect those reports with his briefing. That drew Labour claims that Mr Hammond had "forgotten" the order and that he had "humiliated" and left in the dark about the mission. Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, said: "This is an astonishing admission. Afghanistan is our country's biggest defence priority and there is no excuse for the Defence Secretary not knowing his own policy. The minister however, insisted there was nothing wrong with the situation. "Gen Allen has made a tactical decision where he is right and entitled to do," Mr Hammond said. Politicians have a role, commanders have a role. I do not seek to involve myself in military decisions. Despite his suggestion that the new order was routine, Nato sources in Afghanistan today made clear that it would mean significant changes on the way troops from the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) work with Afghan forces. The order said that "until further notice," most joint operations between Nato and Afghan forces would be large-scale battalion-sized missions. Smaller operations would have to approved "on a case by case basis" by senior commanders. Following a series of conversations between senior figures in London and commanders in Afghanistan, the Isaf headquarters in Kabul later "clarified" Gen Allen's orders, insisting they were temporary, and not a permanent change. Isaf "remains absolutely committed to partnering with, training, advising and assisting our Afghan National Security Force counterparts," it said in a statement, adding that Western forces "will return to normal operations as soon as conditions warrant." Two British soldiers were killed by rogue Afghan soldier at weekend, the latest in a growing number to die at the hands of the personnel they are deployed to train and support, while 51 Nato personnel have been killed in so-called "insider attacks" this year. The British soldiers were killed at a checkpoint when a man dressed as an Afghan policeman pretended to be injured so they would help him. Mr Hammond told MPs that such attacks have a corrosive effect on public support for the Afghan mission. "I recognise that incidents of insider attacks are sapping public morale in ISAF home countries," he said. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, insisted that Britain and its allies will not change their approach to Afghanistan and will "defeat the threat" of insider attacks. "We will defeat this threat as we have defeated so many threats," Mr Hague told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons. We will persist and defeat this threat as we have defeated all others. He added: "The Taliban should be very clear and I make it very clear to them now that our strategy in Afghanistan has not changed in response to these attacks and it will not change." Mr Hammond faced calls from MPs to accelerate the withdrawal of troops, with Labour's former Europe minister Denis MacShane arguing that they should all be brought home by Christmas. Conservative MP and former soldier John Baron said that the Isaf announcement threatened to "blow a hole in our stated exit strategy."