Prince Harry has tarnished his reputation with remarks about killing Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, a former British commander says. Harry’s talk of Taliban kills in Afghanistan tarnishes reputation.
In his memoir, the Duke of Sussex describes his 25 kills as “chess pieces removed from the board”.
Ex-army officer colonel Richard Kemp told the sources about Harry’s comments were “ill-judged”. Harry’s talk of Taliban kills in Afghanistan
He added the remarks may have undermined his security and could provoke people to take revenge.
Prince Harry gives details about his time as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan in his memoir Spare, which BBC News has obtained a copy of after it was put on sale early in Spain.
In it, he reveals for the first time that he killed 25 enemy fighters – which is perfectly possible after two tours in the Helmand region of the country.
“It wasn’t a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it leave me ashamed,” he writes.
“When I found myself plunged in the heat and confusion of combat I didn’t think of those 25 as people. They were chess pieces removed from the board. Bad people eliminated before they could kill good people.”
Harry briefly served as a forward air controller on the ground calling in strikes, before flying Apache helicopters in his second longer tour.
Responding to the prince’s comments, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karami accused the forces of countries who once fought in Afghanistan of “committing crimes”. He said: “This confession shows that the forces of all occupying countries have the same criminal stories.”
The US and its Nato allies invaded in October 2001 to oust the Taliban, whom they said were harbouring Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures linked to the 9/11 attacks.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would not comment on the appropriateness of the prince’s 25 kills claim, but added he was “enormously grateful to our armed forces”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson, when asked about the prince’s kill number, said: “We do not comment on operational details for security reasons.”
