Flight carrying Afghanistan evacuees lands in UK

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Harry and his wife Meghan Markle released a statement this week, expressing their heartbreak at the “exceptionally fragile” state the world is in. They said they were “speechless” at the situation in Afghanistan, which appears to be worsening by the hour, after US President Joe Biden decided to withdraw all US troops, ending a 20-year Western presence in the country. Within days, the Taliban captured Kabul and the airport became a scene of desperation and chaos, as thousands of Afghans tried to flee.

This will hit close to home for the Duke of Sussex, who served 10 years in the British Army and went on two tours of Afghanistan.

He and Meghan wrote on their Archewell website: “WHen any person or community suffers, a piece of eeach of us does so with them, whether we realise it or not.

“And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we, as a people, are being conditioned to accept it.

“It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action – together.”

This statement has been compared with comments Harry made at the time of his deployment to Afghanistan in 2013, when he served four months as a co-pilot in southern Helmand province.

Asked at the time whether he had killed Taliban insurgents during his second tour of the country, Harry admitted he had.

He told reporters: “Yeah, so lots of people have. Everyone’s fired a certain amount.”

He admitted it was sometimes justified to “take a life to save a life”.

He stressed that while killing Taliban insurgents may have ultimately proved part of the job, it was not his reasoning behind returning.

Harry continued: “Our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on that ground and if that means shooting someone who is shooting at them, then we will do it.

He added: “It’s not the reason I decided to do this job.

“The reason to do this job was to get back out here, and carry on with a job.”

In an earlier interview, Harry revealed: “If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game, I suppose.”

Harry was first deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, but the news was kept top secret.

However, after just 10 weeks, he was forced to come home when an Australian newspaper breached the media blackout.

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When news leaked of his whereabouts, Taliban insurgents insisted they would make “extra efforts to kill or capture” him, according to royal author Tom Quinn.

Harry was reported to be “furious” at the leak, and admitted to feeling “guilty” that he was no longer able to serve in Afghanistan.

His spell in Camp Bastion had proved it was possible for him to work on the frontline.

While continuing to impress military staff, he was redeployed in late 2012.

This time, the media could report on his posting, and were even invited to a tour of his camp at Christmas.

The prince, in his usual chirpy character, gave a brief glimpse into life in Camp Bastion – even introducing two of his campmates who were enjoying a game of FIFA at the time.

Harry used the video games as an example to prove why he was so efficient at operating the weapons, and said: “I’m one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox.

“So with my thumbs I like to think I’m probably quite useful.

“You can ask the guys I thrash in FIFA all the time.”

The parents of an American soldier, Christopher ‘Tripp’ Zanetis, told The Sun in 2018 of the crucial role Harry played in a rescue mission.

In his role as co-pilot of an Apache helicopter, Harry is said to have helped fend off Taliban insurgents that had ambushed Christopher’s group.

John Zanetis said: “Prince Harry came in with his protection squadron and blew the enemy to pieces.”

His mother Sarah added: “They provided enough cover for Tripp to get his men loaded on the helicopter. I believe there were Taliban members killed.”

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