Prince Harry Should be Brought to Justice over Killing 25 Afghans, Says Taliban Leader – News18

A senior Taliban leader has hit out at Prince Harry over his claims that he killed 25 Afghans while serving as Apache helicopter co-pilot during his stint in Afghanistan in 2012-2013.

In his memoir “Spare,” Harry revealed that he had eliminated two dozen Taliban militants while serving as an Apache attack helicopter pilot in Afghanistan and said he felt neither satisfaction nor shame about his actions. he killed 25 people.

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen condemned the prince for not only killing innocent Afghans but also boasting about it and said that Prince Harry ought to feel ashamed of what he did, Arab News reported.

“They claim they are a democracy, that they are the advocates and champions of human rights. And then they do this,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen further said that the men whom Harry killed were not “enemy combatants” but innocent villagers. He demanded that the prince be brought to justice.

“If their laws are meant for the protection of human rights, then he should be tried (before a court of law). By his own admission he has acknowledged that he killed 25 people. It is a crime,” he added.

Prince Harry carried out two tours of duty against the Taliban, first as a forward air controller calling in air strikes in 2007 and 2008, and later flying an attack helicopter in 2012 and 2013.

This isn’t the first time that the Duke of Sussex has been criticised by the Taliban for his actions in Afghanistan.

Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban leader, criticised the Duke of Sussex in January over the remarks saying those Harry killed were Afghans who had families.

“Mr Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans,” Haqqani had said in a tweet, accusing Harry of committing “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’,” he said.

Harry served 10 years in the British military, rising to the rank of captain.

In 2013, Prince Harry had sparked controversy regarding his Afghan service as he likened shooting insurgents to playing video games.