Prince Harry says he killed 25 people in Afghanistan during second tour of duty
Prince Harry has revealed he killed 25 people while on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, according to reported excerpts of his highly-anticipated autobiography.
The Duke of Sussex was an Apache helicopter pilot at the time and in the upcoming book, Spare, he said he flew on six missions that resulted in “the taking of human lives”.
The 38-year-old also disclosed that he did not think of the 25 that were killed as "people" but as "chess pieces" that were taken off the board.
The Duke has never publicly discussed his kills during his military service before now.
The book is due to be released on January 10, but it has already gone on sale in Spain.
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Prince Harry at Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan in 2012 (PA)
Prince Harry attends a mission briefing at the British controlled flight-line at Camp Bastion in 2012 (Getty Images)An excerpt from the Spanish version of Spare, which accidentally went on sale in Spain, has been obtained by The Daily Telegraph.
In it, Prince Harry writes about how he watched each "kill" when he returned to base and described the insurgents as “baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies”.
It is not possible to kill someone “if you see them as a person”, he says, but the Army had “trained me to ‘other’ them and they had trained me well.”
Prince Harry gives the thumbs up upon his arrival at Camp Bastion in 2012 (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Prince Harry holds an SLR rifle on patrol through the deserted town of Garmisir (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)The excerpt adds: “I made it my purpose, from day one, to never go to bed with any doubt whether I had done the right thing…whether I had shot at Taliban and only Taliban, without civilians in the vicinity.
"I wanted to return to Great Britain with all my limbs, but more than that I wanted to get home with my conscience intact.”
He explained how he knew his exact number of kills because of the "era of Apaches and laptops".
Prince Harry on patrol through the deserted town of Garmisir close in 2008 (AFP/Getty Images)He added: "And it seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number.
“So my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me.”
Harry also explains in his upcoming book that he didn't feel any guilt in this because he never forgot watching the 9/11 attacks in New York unfold on TV and then later meeting the families of victims of the attacks on visits to the US.
Prince Harry went on his first tour of duty from 2007 to 2008 as a forward air controller in Helmand province.
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His second tour was in 2012 after learning to fly Apache helicopters. He was deployed to Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan for 20 weeks.
This story is based off a translated version of Prince Harry ’s book Spare.
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