The Afghan Taliban have hit out at Prince Harry after his problematic confession of killing 25 Afghans in his memoir Spare.
In his book, he confessed to killing 25 Afghans during his military duty in Afghanistan. In one section of his book, the 38-year-old Prince Harry opened up about his military duties in Afghanistan. He was first posted as a forward air controller in 2007-08 and then in 2012 when he was the co-pilot gunner in Apache attack helicopters.
“It wasn’t a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it leave me ashamed,” Harry wrote, according to the Spanish version of the book. “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,” says Harry in his book.
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Following his confessions, Senior Taliban official Anas Haqqani has released his statements. “Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans,” Haqqani tweeted, accusing the prince of committing “war crimes”.
“They had families who were waiting for their return. Among the killers of Afghans, not many have the decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes,” said Haqqani.
1/3- Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return. Among the killers of Afghans, not many have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes. pic.twitter.com/zjDwoDmCN1
— Anas Haqqani(انس حقاني) (@AnasHaqqani313) January 6, 2023
3/3- I don't expect that the ICC will summon you or the human rights activists will condemn you, because they are deaf and blind for you. But hopefully these atrocities will be remembered in the history of humanity.
— Anas Haqqani(انس حقاني) (@AnasHaqqani313) January 6, 2023
“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”,” adds Haqqani in his tweet.
“I don’t expect that the ICC will summon you or the human rights activists will condemn you because they are deaf and blind for you. But hopefully, these atrocities will be remembered in the history of humanity,” concluded Anas Haqqani.
Royal experts believe that Prince Harry has risked the security of his family.
Expert Will Geddes says: “Prince Harry claiming to have killed 25 Taliban has raised him, his wife, and his children’s threat level significantly to jihadist threats.
“No one who has ever operated in conflict zones ever discloses that kind of information.”
Geddes added: “This risk he’s now amplified is the threat not only to himself but to his wife and children, and for someone who is stating he wants to remain private and want to hide in the shadows this is really drawing more light on him than is necessary.
“Fixated persons are people very much obsessed with the Royal Family for various reasons, there are potentials for IEDs, the potential for suicide attacks, the potential for lone tech lone wolf attacks or lone actor attacks where someone might try and get him with a knife,” he notes.