“He has turned against the army”: the controversy unleashed by the son of Carlos III by revealing the details of the fighters he killed in Afghanistan

“I didn’t see them as people, but as chess pieces.”

This is how Prince Harry describes in his long-awaited and controversial autobiography entitled “Spare” (In the shadow, in Spanish), his experience killing alleged members of the Taliban during his service in the army British in Afghanistan.

Look: Prince Harry denounces that he was the victim of physical and verbal attacks by his brother William

In the book, which is due to be released worldwide on January 10, but whose content is already known as some copies are sold in advance in Spain, the son of King Carlos III also talks about his troubled departure from the royal family after his wedding with the actress Meghan Markle and of his complicated relationship with his brother William and his father.

But it has been the details about his life in the military between 2007 and 2013 that have caused the most stir, both inside and outside the United Kingdom.

Harry reveals for the first time that he killed 25 enemy fighters in Afghanistanwhich is perfectly possible after having been deployed twice in the Helmand region.

“It’s not a statistic that fills me with pride but it doesn’t embarrass me either,” he writes in his autobiography.

Prince Harry’s autobiographical book will go on sale on January 10. (GETTY IMAGES)

“When I was plunged into the heat and confusion of battle, I didn’t think of them as 25 people. You can’t kill people if you see them as people,” he adds.

And he ends: “They were chess pieces that were removed from the board, the bad guys are eliminated before they kill the good ones.”

The Taliban’s response

These details about his experience as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan have provoked reactions both within the military establishments in the United Kingdom, and within the Taliban itself, which now governs Afghanistan.

“This problem is not unique to Harry. Forces from all occupying countries have committed similar crimes in our country,” said Taliban deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi.

Karimi indicated that it is a shame that Western countries consider themselves defenders of human rights and are “those who actually commit these crimes”.

“This confession shows that the forces of all the occupying countries have the same criminal histories,” the spokesman concluded.

Another senior member of the Taliban, Anas Haqqani, went further, writing on his Twitter account:

“Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families waiting for their return… I don’t expect the (International Criminal Court) to summon you or human rights activists to sentence you, because they are deaf and blind”.

Harry was deployed to Afghanistan on two occasions. (GETTY IMAGES)

“He has turned against the army”

From the British army, reactions have not been long in coming either.

Retired British Army Colonel Richard Kemp, who was sent to Kabul in 2003 to take command of forces in Afghanistan, told the BBC it was unusual for Prince Harry to reveal the number of fighters he had killed, although it was not for him. is a problem.

Kemp explained that soldiers used to talk in private about the people they had killed or wounded, sometimes as “a way to take the pressure off after a period of combat”.

But the colonel considered that referring to dead Taliban insurgents as chess pieces could be used as “propaganda” by the enemy.

He further added that these details may have undermined Prince Harry’s safety.

“(The Taliban) are always looking to radicalize people and recruit people, and we’ve already seen how they’ve capitalized on that,” he said.

In statements to the media Force News, Retired Colonel Tim Collins condemned Prince Harry’s book, calling it “tragic scam to make money”.

Referring to the revelation that he killed 25 enemy combatants, Collins said: “That’s not how you behave in the military; that’s not how we think.”

“You’ve let your people down. We don’t notch rifle butts. We never do.”

“Harry has now turned against his other family, the military, who once embraced him, having torn apart his birth family.”

Collins accused Prince Harry of choosing an “alien” path and “seeking riches he doesn’t need.”

(GETTY IMAGES)

security risk

Ben McBean, a former Marine who was with Harry in Afghanistan, told the BBC he was “proud of him for taking on his role, but that doesn’t justify talking about how many people you’ve killed.”

McBean added that the disclosure may create a security risk not only for the royal family, but for Britain as a whole.

“If the Taliban can’t access HarryThey might think who they can target in the UK. There is nothing positive in what he has said,” McBean said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would not comment on the appropriateness of Prince Harry’s claimed 25 deaths, adding that he was “hugely grateful to the armed forces.”

For its part, a British Defense Ministry spokesman said: “We do not comment on operational details for security reasons.”

Source: Elcomercio