Afghan families call for Prince Harry to be put on trial after his admission of killing 25 people

HELMAND/KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – Afghan families have called for Prince Harry to be put on trial after he admitted to killing 25 people during his time fighting in Afghanistan for the UK military.

In his book of memoirs titled ‘Spare’, Harry revealed that he killed 25 people as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. He said that he did not think of them as “people,” but instead as “chess pieces” that had been taken off the board.

His comments drew sharp criticism from people in Afghanistan.

Harry, who served in Afghanistan first as a forward air controller in air raids from 2007-2008, then flying the attack helicopter between 2012-2013, carried out his military duty at the British base Camp Bastion in the Helmand province.

Families who lost their loved ones in the airstrikes in the Sangin district of Helmand province said that those people were not rebels or terrorists, but ordinary Afghans.

Hamdullah Alizai, 45, a resident of the Sangin district, said that in August 2008, the British Air Force carried out attacks on their settlements, killing 27 people including his father and a 15-year-old brother.

“We were devastated then and we had hard days. We strongly condemn Prince Harry’s statements. We demand that he be put on trial and punished,” Alizai stressed.

Mohammed Alizai, 38, another resident, said he lost his then-23-year-old newly engaged brother in the attacks.

He recalled that they had to bury some bodies in different villages for fear of bombardment.

Habibul Rahman Noorzai, 38, whose father, uncle and 20-year-old brother were killed in the attacks, said: “British and foreign soldiers committed many atrocities here. We want them to be brought to justice.”

There has been no comment from Harry after the backlash from Afghans who are deeply offended over the insensitive remarks, as well as from human rights activists.