By John Ikani
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has revealed in his upcoming autobiography “Spare” that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his time as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Harry served first as a forward air controller in air attacks between 2007 and 2008, and later flew the attack helicopter between 2012 and 2013.
He stated that there were six missions he undertook as a pilot that resulted in “taking human lives,” and described eliminating the targets as akin to “removing chess pieces” from a board.
“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.”
The prince also mentioned that he neither feels proud nor ashamed of these actions.
“It wasn’t a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it leave me ashamed,” he writes.
In addition to this revelation, Harry also disclosed in his memoir that his older brother, Prince William, physically attacked him during an argument over his wife, Meghan Markle.
Harry’s talk of Taliban kills tarnishes reputation – ex-commander
Reacting to Harry’s description of his kills in Afghanistan, a former British commander, Colonel Richard Kemp said the Prince’s comments tarnish his reputation and may “inflame old feelings of revenge.”
Colonel Richard Kemp who was sent to Kabul in 2003 to take command of forces in Afghanistan, stated that while he had no problem with Prince Harry revealing his kill number, he took issue with the way Harry described the Taliban as “sub-human and just as chess pieces to be knocked over”.
The ex-commander argued that this was not the way the British Army trained soldiers and that the comment was misleading and potentially valuable to those who wish the British government harm.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I think he’s wrong when he says in his book that insurgents were seen just as being virtually unhuman – subhuman perhaps – just as chess pieces to be knocked over.
“That’s not the case at all. And it’s not the way the British Army trains people as he claims…
“I think that sort of comment that doesn’t reflect reality, is misleading and potentially valuable to those people who wish the British forces and British government harm, so I think it was an error of judgement.”
He also expressed concern that the comment could worsen Prince Harry’s security problems and could provoke people who sympathize with the Taliban to attempt revenge.
“It inflames old feelings of revenge that might have been forgotten about… no doubt about it there are people in the world today who already would have seen this and will be thinking about getting him back,” he added.
Despite this, Colonel Kemp stated that Prince Harry should be “proud” of his kill number due to the “effective impact” it had on the campaign, his courage in action, and his support for wounded soldiers.
