Taliban leader hits out at Prince Harry for calling his Afghanistan kills 'chess pieces' in new tell-all book - CNBC

The aboriginal merchandise of Prince Harry's tell-all memoir "Spare" is triggering choler from plentifulness of antithetic sources, from loyal monarchy supporters to tv pundits and mean Brits — and astir recently, the Taliban.

The highly-anticipated book, written successful the years aft Harry and his woman Meghan Markle near their roles successful the British royal family, was accidentally enactment connected merchantability successful Spain respective days earlier its authoritative merchandise date.

Among the galore arguable revelations successful the memoir is Harry's disclosure that helium killed 25 Taliban fighters portion connected deployment successful Afghanistan with the British Army.

According to excerpts of the publication cited by Sky News, which has obtained a copy, Harry said helium did not presumption the fighters arsenic "people" but alternatively arsenic "chess pieces" that helium was removing from the board.

"It was not thing that filled maine with satisfaction, but I was not ashamed either," the prince wrote. CNBC has not seen oregon been capable to get a transcript of the book.

Taliban person Anas Haqqani deed backmost astatine the remarks connected Twitter, writing: "Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return. Among the killers of Afghans, not galore person your decency to uncover their conscience and confess to their warfare crimes."

Haqqani added, "Our guiltless radical were chess pieces to your soldiers, subject and governmental leaders. Still, you were defeated successful that 'game' of achromatic & achromatic 'square'."

The Taliban returned to afloat powerfulness implicit Afghanistan erstwhile the U.S. withdrew its past troops from the state successful August of 2021. It has since re-imposed a hyper-conservative Islamic theocracy connected the country, imposing convulsive punishments connected dissenters and banning women from higher education, among different quality rights abuses.

Harry served successful the British Army for 10 years, obtaining the fertile of captain. He served 2 tours successful Afghanistan, the archetypal successful 2007-2008 arsenic a guardant aerial controller, and aboriginal successful 2012-2013 arsenic an onslaught chopper pilot.

The Taliban person isn't the lone 1 aggravated astir Harry's comments; the quality prompted backlash from erstwhile members of the British subject arsenic well, who mostly unrecorded by a civilization of not openly speaking oregon bragging astir lives they person taken during combat.

"Love you #PrinceHarry but you request to unopen up!" Ben McBean, a erstwhile Royal Marine who served with Harry successful Afghanistan, wrote connected Twitter connected Thursday. "Makes you wonderment the radical he's hanging astir with. If it was bully radical idiosyncratic by present would person told him to stop."

One erstwhile elder service serviceman who led British forces successful Afghanistan successful 2003, Col. Richard Kemp, described Harry's comments arsenic "ill-judged" and perchance adjacent dangerous.

Harry's words "were astir apt ill-judged for 2 reasons," Kemp said successful an interrogation with Sky News. "One is his proposition that helium killed 25 radical volition person reincited those radical who privation him harm."

The retired colonel added: "The different occupation I recovered with his comments was that helium characterized the British Army fundamentally arsenic having trained him and different soldiers to spot his force arsenic little than human, conscionable arsenic chess pieces connected a committee to beryllium swiped off, which is not the case. It's the other of the case."

He warned that specified comments could "incite immoderate radical to effort an onslaught connected British soldiers anyplace successful the world."

Kensington Palace, which represents Prince William, and Buckingham Palace which represents King Charles III, person truthful acold declined to remark connected the publication and immoderate of its claims. CNBC has reached retired to a typical for Prince Harry for comment.