Prince Harry Says He Killed 25 People in Afghanistan

In his forthcoming memoir, Spare, Prince Harry has reportedly claimed that he killed twenty-five Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

The book, which is set to include content about Harry’s two tours in Afghanistan in 2007/8 and 2012/13, is already attracting much speculation. However, members of the British military have criticized Harry’s decision to discuss his time in Afghanistan at length.

Harry has rarely been a stranger to controversy since leaving the Royal Family as a working member, together with his wife Meghan Markle, in February 2021. The pair’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, has been a source of sensationalism since its release last year.

Prince Harry’s Afghanistan comments

Prince Harry’s comments on Afghanistan came to public attention after The Telegraph obtained a Spanish-language copy of Spare in Spain, where the memoir is already available in bookshops.

Harry served two tours in Afghanistan. The first was in 2007 and 2008 when he served as a battlefield air controller in Helmand Province. The second tour occurred after he retrained as an Apache helicopter pilot. He served a second twenty-week tour in 2012 and 2013 as an Apache co-pilot and gunner.

In the memoir, the prince writes that it is uncommon for soldiers to know how many people they have killed, but “in the era of Apaches and laptops” he could determine “with exactness how many enemy combatants I had killed. And it seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number.”

“So my number is 25,” Harry claims. “It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me.”

Harry flew on six Apache missions during the war in Afghanistan. Each mission was recorded by a nose-mounted video camera on the attack helicopter, so the prince was able to view a recording of each “kill” after operations.

Reflecting on the taking of lives, Harry writes that in the “din and confusion of combat,” he perceived the enemy combatants he killed as “baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies.”

Criticism

Harry’s decision to write at length about his combat experiences in Afghanistan has not been well received by some former members of the British armed forces. Several ex-military personnel have criticized the prince for his comments on the conflict.

Former senior British military advisor Major General Chip Chapman said that the memoir is “crassly and naively stupid” and “disloyal.” He added that it contradicted the military’s core values of integrity, loyalty, respect for others, and selfless commitment.

Chapman also argued that the prince has unnecessarily painted a target on his back. “He’s just opened himself up to every jihadist and nutcase out there,” the former military officer said.

Bob Stewart, a Conservative MP and former British Army officer, who served seven tours in Northern Ireland and led UN personnel in Bosnia, also criticized the prince. “Real soldiers tend to shy away,” he said. “People I know don’t boast about such things. They rather regret that they have had to do it.”

“I feel really sad for the King,” Stewart added. “Because the King is a good man. I have met him a few times, [and] he was my colonel of the regiment. He is a very sensitive decent man and this will be really hurting him a great deal, all this furor.”