Killing of medic and Marine 'was just bad luck': Afghan bloodbath is blamed on local policeman

She and Cpl O'Connor, of 40 Commando, were on patrol when they came under small arms fire near the village of Char Kutsa in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand Province on Wednesday morning.
The deaths take the total number of UK service personnel to have died since the war began in 2001 to 435.
Widespread confusion surrounded what triggered the bloodbath, with military officials admitting the 'picture was very confused'. Early reports said the pair had been killed by insurgents, and a later Taliban statement suggested they were deliberately targeted by a rogue Afghan policeman.

 

 

Sporty: Channing Day dreamed of joining the army since she was a schoolgirl

 

 

 

Unclear: Military officials admitted today that there was 'a very confusing picture' and that an attack by a renegade Afghan soldier or by an allied unit could not be ruled out

Tragic: The family of Channing Day, pictured with her mother Rosemary, have been informed of her death

 

It was also claimed that the troops had been accidentally shot by British colleagues during the confusion of battle.
Helmand Police spokesman Farid Ahmed Farhang said the UK patrol had stumbled upon the Afghan policeman washing for prayer and a shot had been fired. He said: 'The British soldiers thought he was a Taliban and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.
'A second group of British soldiers who were coming from a distance thought they were attacked by the Taliban and opened fire in the direction they had heard the gunfire, killing two of their colleagues.'

 

Misson: Investigators were today interviewing survivors of the firefight amid the conflicting claims about what happened

At work: Channing Day was killed alongside a Royal Marine in the attack
But the speculation was firmly quashed by UK defence sources, who insisted there was only one British unit in the vicinity.
Senior military sources said it was most likely that the fallen service personnel were killed by an Afghan policeman in a 'green on blue' shooting – but as a result of a mix-up and not a rogue gunman carrying out an insider attack.
A senior Army source said: 'This sounds like an accidental friendly fire incident, whether blue or green on blue. It is not a deliberate, malicious, insider threat, a bad Afghan policeman who has turned his guns on the British. This is just bad luck, an accidental event.

 

Loss: British Soldier Channing Day (centre) who was killed in Afghanistanypctured with friends on her Facebook page

 

 

Killed: Channing Day of 3 Medical Regiment posing for photos on a night out

 

'There are lots of people from different organisations with weapons, all a little bit twitchy and nervous because they're in a dangerous place. It only takes one person to react badly and it goes wrong.'
Cpl Day, from Comber, Co Down, near Belfast, had dreamed of joining the Army as a schoolgirl and fulfilled her ambition in 2005. She had served in Iraq and Afghanistan twice.

A CHILDHOOD DREAM

 

Channing Day harboured a schoolgirl dream of joining the Army, a teacher at her former school said.
As a bubbly and sporty teenager in Northern Ireland she completed work experience with the forces in 2002 and worked well with everybody there, Strangford College acting principal Paul Maxwell added.
She was always physically fit and achieved top grades in PE, excelling at gymnastics, trampolining and netball.
Mr Maxwell said: 'She always said she wanted to join the Army, she was pretty much focused on wanting to join the Army.'
He said her sporting prowess revealed her gritty determination to succeed.
'It was not just that she was good but that she always showed commitment, she stayed after school and did all the practice,' he added.
Ms Day left school at 16 and Mr Maxwell said he believed she went straight into the Army.
The acting principal added: 'Every pupil is dear to us and I can remember Channing as if it was yesterday, somebody we remember as being young, and still so young, is suddenly killed in such a tragic way.'

She leaves her parents Leslie and Rosemary Day, her sisters Lauren and Laken, and brother Aaron.
Her family said: 'Channing was bubbly, sporty, beautiful and lived her life for the Army. She has died doing what she lived for and in the life that she loved.
'She will be remembered by all who knew her as a wonderful girl who never stopped smiling and who had an infectious laugh.
'A girl who lived her life to the full without ever giving up on her dreams. She will be so sadly missed by all.'
Lieutenant Colonel Phillip de Rouffignac, Commanding Officer, 3 Medical Regiment, said Cpl Day was a 'star for the future'.
Lt Col Matt Jackson, of 40 Commando, said: 'She gave Charlie Company the confidence to patrol across a dangerous area knowing that she would be there to care for them if they fell – she was devoted to helping others.'
Cpl O'Connor, from Havant, Hampshire, was on his third tour of Afghanistan. He was described as an 'outstanding and inspirational' Marine.
He leaves behind his mother Rosemary, father George and brother Phil.
In a statement his family said: 'David's family and friends are greatly saddened by his loss and hope to be left to grieve privately.'
Lt Col Jackson said: 'He was one of the best. He was loved and respected by those around him and was relentless in the pursuit of excellence in his duties.
'Brave, committed and humorous it is difficult to find words that can possibly fill the void which has been left.'