Channing Day: Shot by her own side in moment of chaos A spokesman for the Afghan police claimed it was another British patrol, and not the policeman's colleagues, who had joined in the shooting. He said the second British unit had been passing at the time and feared they were coming under attack. "There was an Afghan policeman who had left his checkpoint in ordinary clothes with his weapon and was washing before praying," said Farid Ahmad Farhang. The British came upon him and suspected he was Taliban and opened fire, killing him. The other British then thought they were under attack and opened fire, killing the British. The MoD, meanwhile, was investigating whether the British patrol was attacked by the policeman. A spate of so-called "green on blue" attacks, where Afghan forces have turned their weapons on Nato troops, has sown deep distrust between the ranks of allies. Nine British troops have been killed by their supposed Afghan allies. Yesterday, two American soldiers were shot dead in Uruzgan province by a man believed to be a policeman. The Taliban themselves claimed the British deaths were the result of an insider shooting. The family of Cpl Day paid tribute to her strength and determination yesterday. Her sister, Laken, 24, said: "Thank you everybody for your kind thoughts. I am the proudest sister ever. Her legacy will live on strong. The deaths of Cpl Day and Cpl O'Connor brought the total number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 435. It led to a bitter debate in the House of Commons, with one Labour MP alleging that the soldiers had died to protect the reputations of "cowardly ministers." Paul Flynn, who has called for the early withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, said: "Today we hear the dreadful news of two further deaths of British soldiers. There will be many tributes to them that will be sincere and heartfelt. But won't history judge their epitaph should be: they died to protect the reputation of cowardly ministers? The Nato-led coalition in Kabul said initially that the two Britons were killed by the Taliban, only to retract its statement later in the day. An MoD spokesman said: "At this stage we do not know what initiated the exchange of gunfire but an investigation is ongoing. The situation remains unclear.