Two British soldiers shot by Afghan gunman

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the Commons that the details of in the incident at the British HQ in Lashkar Gar, in Helmand province of Afghanistan, are still emerging.

“Our thoughts, as ever, are with their families, for whom this will be a deeply personal tragedy,” he said.

“Details of the incident are still emerging but it appears that a member of the Afghan National Army opened fire at the entrance gate to the British headquarters in Lashkar Gar city, killing the two British service personnel.

“The assailant was killed by return fire.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will issue further statements as more information is revealed. The soldiers’ next of kin have been informed.

In a seperate incident, another third Nato serviceman – who is not British – was also killed by Afghan security forces after he was shot by a policeman in the east of the country.

Tensions between Nato and Afghan troops have risen in recent months, particularly over the burning of the Koran by US forces last month and the alleged massacre of 17 Afghan civilians by a rogue American soldier.

The attacks brings the total number of NATO troops killed by members of Afghan security forces to 16 this year alone. Of the 91 NATO fatalities this year, around one in six have been as a result of so-called ‘insider’ shootings by Afghan military.

UK war dead in Afghanistan: Read more on our interactive timeline

The shootings raise new concerns about the relationship between Afghan and Nato troops, and whether security responsibility can be handed over to Afghan forces by the end of 2014 when most western forces are due to leave.

Since military operations began in Afghanistan in 2001, a total of 407 British troops have been killed.