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Prince Harry’s Claim That He Killed 25 Afghans Draws Anger And Concern
(CTN NEWS) – LONDON – Prince Harry‘s claim that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan is one of the most striking revelations in a book full of shocking revelations, and it has prompted criticism from both allies and opponents.
Harry claims in his autobiography “Spare” that during his time in Afghanistan from 2012–2013 as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner, he killed more than twenty Taliban fighters.
Amid battle, he describes how he treated enemy soldiers like pieces being removed off a chessboard, “Baddies eliminated before they could kill Goodies,” and how he feels neither satisfaction nor guilt about his conduct.
When discussing his combat experience in 2013, Harry said that “if people are attempting to do horrible stuff to our troops, then we’ll take them out of the game” near the end of his tour.
– A montage of the front pages of Britain’s national newspapers on Oct. 22, 2004, where photos of Prince Harry’s altercation with a photographer outside a central London night spot in the early hours of Thursday morning dominated. (AP Photo/Adam Butler, File)
However, the Taliban and British veterans expressed alarm about his decision to assign a number to those he murdered and his analogy of them to chess pieces.
Dear Harry! The people you killed weren’t pawns in a game; they were real people with waiting families, wrote renowned Taliban figure Anas Haqqani on Friday.
When Western soldiers left Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban, who follow a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, retook control.
Harry’s remarks “represent a microcosm of the trauma endured by Afghans at the hands of occupying forces who slaughtered innocents without any responsibility,” according to Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry.
According to several veterans and military commanders, publishing a head count was allegedly against an unwritten military ethic in Britain.
Britain’s Prince Harry or just plain Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, at the British-controlled flight line in Camp Bastion, southern Afghanistan, Oct. 31, 2012. (John Stillwell, Pool Photo via AP, File)
According to Col. Tim Collins, who commanded a British battalion in the Iraq War, the phrase “is not how we think; it’s not how you conduct in the Army.” Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a retired Royal Navy commander, referred to the assertion as “distasteful.”
Despite some skepticism, Harry insisted that he could be certain of the death toll since he watched videos of his missions and, “in the era of Apaches and laptops,” technology allowed him to count the number of enemy troops he had dispatched.
Others claimed that Harry’s statements might make him and the British military forces more vulnerable to attack.
A veteran of the Royal Marines Ben McBean, who is friends with Harry from their service, told Sky News, “I don’t believe it is wise that he say that out loud.” “He has more of a target on his back than anyone else,” the speaker said.
According to Col. Richard Kemp, Former Army, The allegation was “an error of judgment” and “possibly valuable to those who wish the British forces and British government harm,” according to the BBC.
rince William, center, and Prince Harry, right, walk behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II being pulled past Buckingham Palace following her funeral service at Westminster Abbey in central London, on Sept. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
When Harry and his wife Meghan left their royal duties in 2020, they lost their publicly sponsored U.K. police protection. Harry is suing the British government because it won’t allow him to pay for his police security when he visits the country.
Between the American-led invasion in 2001 and the conclusion of British combat operations in 2014, tens of thousands of British soldiers served in Afghanistan, and more than 450 lost their lives.
Harry served twice in Afghanistan throughout his ten years in the British Army. Before a media leak cut short his tour in 2007–2008, he worked as a forward air controller for 10 weeks.
In order to have the opportunity to go back to the front lines, he retrained with the British Army Air Corps as a helicopter pilot.
– A montage of the front pages of Britain’s national newspapers on Oct. 22, 2004, where photos of Prince Harry’s altercation with a photographer outside a central London night spot in the early hours of Thursday morning dominated. (AP Photo/Adam Butler, File)
He was a member of a two-man team whose responsibilities included assisting helicopters as they evacuated injured soldiers while aiding ground troops in firefights.
Because it allowed him to be “one of the boys” rather than a royal, Harry has said that his time in the army was the happiest of his life.
He founded the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded and ill soldiers when he left the military in 2015.
On Tuesday, Harry’s autobiography is scheduled for worldwide release. The Associated Press obtained an early Spanish-language copy.
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