Sunday, September 6, 2026

I killed 25 Taliban fighters like removing chess pieces, says Prince Harry

In his memoir Spare, Harry said he eliminated 25 enemy fighters ‘like removing chess pieces’ while describing him time as an Apache helicopter pilot during the war in Afghanistan.

• January 6, 2023
The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry
The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry

The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry is at the centre of a fresh backlash after claiming he killed dozens of ‘taliban fighters like removing chess pieces’ during his time with the British Army.

Prince Harry served in the army between 2005 and 2015, and actively participated in the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) joint 20-year-long war against Taliban in Afghanistan in which the Duke engaged in two tours in the Helmand province of the country.

In his memoir Spare, Harry said he eliminated 25 enemy fighters ‘like removing chess pieces’ while describing him time as an Apache helicopter pilot during the war in Afghanistan.

“It wasn’t a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it make me ashamed,” he wrote.

He added: “When I was plunged into the heat and confusion of battle, I didn’t think about those as 25 people. You can’t kill people if you see them as people.

“In truth, you can’t hurt people if you see them as people. They were chess pieces taken off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys. They trained me to ‘other’ them and they trained me well.”

Prince Harry’s latest revelation has garnered several comments from people all over the world including Anas Haqqan, a senior Taliban leader, who tweeted: “Mr Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return…

“I don’t expect that the (International Criminal Court) will summon you or the human rights activists will condemn you, because they are deaf and blind for you.”

United States and its NATO allied stormed Afghanistan in 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack on U.S. soil in search of Osama Bin Laden, who was the mastermind of the tragedy event, and other leader of other figueres of his al-Qaeda extremist group.

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