The Taliban administration has denounced Britain’s Prince Harry for his admission of killing 25 people while on military duty in Afghanistan, and a senior Afghan official has accused the royal of killing innocent civilians.
Harry, 38, served as a British Army officer for 10 years. Known as Capt. Harry Wales in the Army, he was deployed to Afghanistan twice, from 2007 to 2008 and then again from 2012 to 2013.
According to news reports, Harry writes in his memoir that it was during his second tour of Afghanistan that he flew on missions resulting in the loss of human lives.
He reportedly writes in “Spare” that he thought of the Taliban fighters as “chess pieces” being taken off the board at the time.
Harry’s reported comments have sparked outcries from senior Taliban officials.
Anas Haqqani, a senior aide and brother of interim Afghan Interior Minister Siraj Haqqani, tweeted that the people Harry claims he killed “were humans.”
“The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return,” Anas Haqqani wrote. “Among the killers of Afghans, not many have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes. The truth is what you’ve said; Our innocent people were chess pieces to your soldiers, military and political leaders. Still, you were defeated in that ‘game’ of white & black ‘square.'”
