Prince Harry: Afghanistan protests in Helmand Province explained after Spare admission of Taliban killings

Protests have broken out in Afghanistan in response to Prince Harry's revelation in his book that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during the Afghan war, an admission which has also been drawing criticism from former military leaders.

Over the weekend, around 20 students staged a protest at a university in Helmand Province where Harry was stationed, the AP reported.

In his controversial autobiography Spare, he writes that during his second tour of duty on the front line in 2012 to 2013, he flew six missions which resulted in "the taking of human lives," for which he felt neither pride nor shame.

“We condemn (Harry’s) action which is against all norms of humanity,” one protester said. Others carried posters showing a picture of Harry's face with a red "x" through it.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

What did Harry say?

The Daily Telegraph, which obtained a Spanish language copy of the memoir from a bookshop in Spain ahead of its official release, revealed that Harry did not conceive of those he killed as "people," but rather as "chess pieces" that had been removed from the game board.

“So, my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,” he wrote on the subject of the number of lives he is thought to have taken in combat.

On his second tour, for which he retrained as an Apache helicopter pilot, the duke recalled: “I was the first in my squadron to pull the trigger in anger.” In a military context, to “fire in anger” means to shoot for a purpose in war.

Harry said he had killed before but it was “my most direct contact with the enemy ever” as he targeted Taliban fighters riding motorbikes.

He revealed that he saw the insurgents he killed as “baddies” explaining it is not possible to kill someone “if you see them as a person”, and that the Army had “trained me to ‘other’ them and they had trained me well”.

The Prince said: “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 went on to reveal how many people he had killed, explaining “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”.

What have the protestors said?

Around 20 students protested over the weekend at a university in Helmand Province where Harry was stationed, the AP reported.

Sayed Ahmad Sayed, a teacher at the university, condemned Harry for his role in UK military operations in Afghanistan.

“The cruelties which have been committed by Prince Harry, his friends or by anyone else in Helmand or anywhere in Afghanistan is unacceptable, cruel,” he said. “These acts will be remembered by history.”

“We ask the international community to put this person (Prince Harry) on trial, and we should get compensation for our losses,” said Mullah Abdullah, who lost four family members in what he described as a UK airstrike in 2011 that hit his family home in the Nahr-e-Saraj area of Helmand.

“We lost our house, life, and family members. We lost our livelihood and also our loved ones,” said Abdullah, while visiting the graves of the family members he lost in the strike, reports AP.

Elsewhere, Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, called Harry “very stupid” for giving details of his Taliban kills.

The retired admiral told the Sunday Mirror that the Invictus Games – which are due to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2023 – will have “serious security issues” because of their direct connection to Harry.

The international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, of which the duke is the patron, will be a prime target for those wanting revenge, Lord West said.

“The Taliban will be reading (Harry’s claims about killing fighters and) thinking there’s this prince calling us all chess pieces and is quite happy about killing us.

“And there will be a lot of people, I am sure, in Islamic State and other terrorist organisations, who will think this is something which should be avenged.”