07 January 2023 , 10:54
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A former Royal Marine working to get animals from shelters out of Afghanistan in Operation Ark says he has been evacuated from Kabul over fears of attacks after Prince Harry admitted killing 25 Taliban.
Pen Farthing, 53, blasted the royal for his "badly advised" memoirs in which he stated he had killed 25 Taliban.
Pen, who has been in Afghanistan for at least 18 months trying to protect animals and "bring about some good", tweeted last night he has had to leave his base.
He posted: "To the idiots who made dumbass comments in support of #PrinceHarry in my tweet, know I have had to evac from #Kabul tonight in case of potential reprisal attacks on ex-forces people like me in the wake of his badly judged memoir.. the animals suffer not me. You happy?"
Prince Harry served in Afghanistan (AFP/Getty Images)The former Marine had earlier tweeted: "Well I was a Royalist until today…. Cheers #PrinceHarry You have been very badly advised I would probably say. And glad you thought through the security implications of those of us still out in #Afghanistan trying to bring about some good. #idiot #notmyprince."
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The former post, seen by more than 375,000, has received hundreds of replies, many of which have been in Pen's favour.
Pen hit out at Harry's 'badly advised' memoir (PA)
Harry races out from to scramble his Apache with fellow pilots in Afghanistan in 2013 (Getty Images)One woman said: "Heartbreaking to hear this."
Another Twitter user posted: "I’m sorry you’ve had to evacuate as you are doing amazing work!!"
A third stated: "As an animal lover, I am so profoundly sorry that security fears for you and your staff have forced you to leave the animals behind. I can’t imagine your grief and fear. Sending love."
In August 2021, Pen became one of the last Brits to make it out of the South Asian country following the Taliban takeover.
His Operation Ark campaign became hugely topical on social media, but speaking at the time, then Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, complained it was distracting from a focus on evacuating the most vulnerable.
Harry wrote that flying six missions during his second tour of duty on the front line in 2012 to 2013 resulted in "the taking of human lives", of which he was neither proud nor ashamed.
The Telegraph, which obtained a Spanish language copy of the memoir from a bookshop in Spain, reports that Harry said he did not think of those he killed as people, but instead as "chess pieces" that had been taken off the board.
"So, my number is 25. It's not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me," he wrote.
Taliban leader in Afghanistan Anas Haqqani condemned the duke for describing those he killed as "chess players", but added that not many who killed Afghans "have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes".
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Harry pictured on patrol through the deserted town of Garmisir (AFP/Getty Images)John Hutton, who was Defence Secretary under Gordon Brown and later chaired defence think tank RUSI, branded Harry's admission a “very serious mistake”.
He told LBC News: "It's absolutely not the right thing for anyone to be saying, and I'm sure he now bitterly regrets saying that.
"I think it diminishes him, and I think it's not what we expect from someone who has held the positions of authority and responsibility that he has previously occupied.
"I think it's a very serious mistake on his part."