Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'

1125     0
Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he
Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'

Army heroes have savaged Prince Harry ’s claim he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan.

They warned the outrageous boast in his new book puts fellow soldiers in added peril.

Iraq veteran Col Tim Collins said: “Having trashed his birth family, Harry has now turned against his other family, the military, that once embraced him.”

Others said he had dehumanised insurgents by calling them “chess pieces” while the Taliban accused him of “war crimes”.

Retired Col Collins, famed for an inspired speech on the eve of battle in 2003, added: “This is not how we behave in the Army.”

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade qhidquiddkidrhinvTeachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

He went on to say that the revelations in the memoir, which targets members of the Royal Family, were “a tragic money-making scam”.

Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'Prince Harry claimed he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan (PA)
Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'Col Collins is furious with Harry (WireImage)

Ex-national security adviser Lord Darroch said he “would have advised against” the wild claim.

And former commando Ben McBean told Harry to “shut up”. In the book, for which he was paid a reported $20million, Harry details how he killed 25 Taliban on six missions during his second front-line tour in 2012.

He says he did not think of them as “people” but instead as “chess pieces” to be taken off the board.

Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'Colonel Tim Collins slammed Prince Harry's comments (Press Association)

Former Defence Secretary John Hutton said his comments were “wrong on every level”.

The Labour peer added: “It’s absolutely not the right thing for anyone to be saying.

“It diminishes him and it’s not what we expect from someone who has held the positions of authority and responsibility that he has ­previously occupied.”

Asked if it was a security risk, Lord Hutton replied: “I feel instinctively this is not the proper subject for someone like him to be talking about in public.”

Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'Prince Harry's memoir Spare will be published globally on January 10 (Penguin Random House)
Army fury at Harry kills boast as colonel says he 'turned against other family'Prince Harry in Afghanistan (PA)

Taliban spokesman Khalid Zadran said: “The perpetrators of such crimes will one day be brought to the international court and criminals like Harry who proudly confess their crimes will be brought in front of the international community.”

At a checkpoint on the Iran border, Taliban chief Molavi Agha Gol, 32, said: “We are still ruling here but he has fled to his ­grandmother’s palace.

Tiger attacks two people in five days as soldiers called in to hunt down big catTiger attacks two people in five days as soldiers called in to hunt down big cat

“He’s nothing but a ­big-mouth loser who has been trying to get attention.”

The Ministry of Defence said it did not comment on operational details for “security reasons”.

Russell Myers

Daily Mirror, Iraq, Armed forces, Soldiers, Royal Family, John Hutton, Prince Harry, British Army, Taliban

Read more similar news:

01.02.2023, 18:40 • World
Vladimir Putin has lost half of Russia's airborne troops since invading Ukraine
02.02.2023, 10:44 • World
North Korea students get frostbite after 'patriotic' subzero mountain march
02.02.2023, 12:25 • Investigation
Russian tank commander takes out five of his own men in huge tank blunder
02.02.2023, 13:22 • Crime
Vladimir Putin's soldiers 'pumped full of drugs' so they can fight in Ukraine
02.02.2023, 16:17 • World
Putin 'brings nuclear briefcase' on visit in chilling threat to the West
04.02.2023, 17:30 • News
Taxpayers pay millions on hotels for defence chiefs as troops live in squalor
07.02.2023, 12:12 • News
Britain's loneliest island 260 miles out at sea where 3 men attempt to survive
07.02.2023, 14:47 • World
Putin to force unemployed Russian men into fighting in brutal Ukraine war
07.02.2023, 15:40 • Crime
Widows of Russian fighters killed in Ukraine war given baffling fur coat gifts
07.02.2023, 21:46 • News
Love Island dad Carl Fogarty cruelly trolled as daughter Claudia makes TV debut