Two Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan in September died from “friendly fire” involving British troops who mistakenly identified their position as a Taleban compound, an official investigation has concluded.

During a search of the Danish position in upper Gereshk Valley, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, investigators from Denmark found remnants of three Javelin missiles which are used by British infantry units in Afghanistan.

The bodies of the two soldiers, Private Thorbjorn Ole Reese and Private Mikkel Keil Sorensen, were also found to contain fragments of the missiles.

After the announcement yesterday by the Danish Advocate General’s Corps which formally blamed the British for the deaths, Brigadier Andrew Mackay, British Task Force commander in Helmand province, expressed his sympathy to the families and friends of the two soldiers.

He said the incident was still being investigated by the British Army but he added: “From my own personal experience of having the Danish battlegroup now under my command here in Helmand I know that this incident will not sway the resolve of the Danish soldiers who continue to work alongside their British counterparts in Afghanistan.”

It has been rare for British troops to be accused of friendly fire incidents either in Afghanistan or Iraq. The tragic killing of the two Danes is believed to be the first time that British troops have been involved in such an incident in Afghanistan. In Iraq, two British soldiers in a Challenger 2 attack were killed when another Challenger 2 opened fire in error.

The two Danes died on September 26 when they were deployed north of Gereshk. They were serving with the Royal Life Guards.

Three members of the Danish Judge Advocate General’s Corps went to Helmand. They found that Private Reese was the first to die. He was killed and another Danish soldier was wounded when their compound was hit by a shoulder-launched Javelin missile during a sustained firefight between the British and the Taleban who were located about 100 yards away from where the Danes were positioned.

After the missile strike, the Danish troops in the compound opened fire with light machineguns and rifles against a line of trees east of their position, “since the soldiers assumed that they had been shot at from this place”.

They also called in mortar fire on the area and for the next few minutes “an intensive firefight took place during which air support was requested and a bomb dropped on a position which was known to be occupied by the Taleban”, the Danish report said.

The Danish compound was struck again by at least one Javelin which killed Private Sorensen. The firefight between the British and Danes lasted for about two and a half hours.

After examining the evidence, the Danish investigators concluded that the “tragic mistake took place due to a confusion of the Danish compound with a known Taleban position”.

The British Army is still considering whether to carry out a Royal Military Police investigation into the incident or whether to hold a board of inquiry.

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