PRINCE Harry has reportedly revealed he killed 25 people while in Afghanistan and thought of his targets as “chess pieces”.
The Telegraph reports that Harry wrote in his upcoming autobiography Spare that he had been trained by the Army not to think of those he killed as “people”.
The paper quoted him as saying it was not possible to kill someone “if you see them as a person”.
It revealed that while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan he claimed the lives of 25 Taliban insurgents.
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He was quoted as saying that “in the era of Apaches and laptops”, he was able to say “with exactness how many enemy combatants I had killed. 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.”
He was further quoted as saying: "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.”
The paper also said that he saw Taliban fighters he killed as being “baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies”, adding that the Army had “trained me to ‘other’ them and they had trained me well”.
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The paper said Harry wrote that his conscience was absolved by his abiding memory of witnessing al-Qaeda 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York on television while at Eton. The Telegraph said he viewed those responsible for the attacks and their allies as “enemies of humanity”.
The Taliban said at the time when Harry was serving it had instructed its commanders in the field “to do whatever they can to eliminate him”.
The paper said it had obtained a Spanish language copy of the book in Spain, where it is currently on sale ahead of its upcoming UK release.
It comes after The Guardian revealed on Thursday that the Prince also wrote in the upcoming book that he was attacked by his brother Prince William after a row.
He reportedly wrote: "[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.
“I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
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