News has just come in that the two NATO soldiers shot dead at the British HQ in Lashkar Gar, in the Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan, were British.

Speaking in a telephone interview from Afghanistan, Captain Justin Brockhoff explained how the assailant was wearing an Afghan National Army uniform when he entered the security gate of the base and shot the two men dead.

(SOUNDBITE) CAPTAIN JUSTIN M. BROCKHOFF, ISAF SPOKESMAN, SAYING IN TELEPHONE INTERVIEW:

"An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against the International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing two service members. The individual who opened fire was killed when coalition forces returned fire, and a joint Afghan and ISAF team is investigating the incident. Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of those who were affected, and ISAF policy is to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities."

The assailant was killed by return fire and there will now be a joint investigation between the Afghan and the International Security Council about the incident.