‘They were not chess pieces’: Senior Taliban leader hits out at Prince Harry over ’25 kills’
A senior Taliban leader has told Prince Harry that the militants he killed in Afghanistan were “not chess pieces, they were humans”.
Responding to revelations in Harry’s forthcoming memoir that he killed 25 Taliban fighters, Anas Haqqani, a senior aide to the interior minister, tweeted: “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 many have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes.”
Watch Sky News special at 7pm tonight – Harry’s Book: The Fallout
Another Taliban official, Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesman, said Harry’s admission showed that “such crimes were not limited to just anyone” and added that “every occupier has a history of such crimes.”
Harry writes about his two tours of duty in Afghanistan in his highly anticipated book, Spare, a copy of which Sky News obtained before its release next week.
In it, the prince reveals that he killed 25 fighters and says he did not think of them as “people”, but instead as “chess pieces” that had been taken off the board.
He adds: “It was not something that filled me with satisfaction, but I was not ashamed either.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Harry’s claims may incite attacks’
Shortly before Mr Haqqani tweeted, a former senior army officer told Sky News that Harry’s comments were “ill-judged” and could incite an attack on British soldiers.
Colonel Richard Kemp, who took command of British forces in Afghanistan in 2003 before his retirement, said the prince’s suggestion that British soldiers are trained to see their enemies as “less than human” was particularly dangerous.
He said Harry’s remarks “were probably ill-judged for two reasons. One is his suggestion that he killed 25 people will have reincited those people who wish him harm.”
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Col Kemp, who retired in 2006, added: “The other problem I found with his comments was that he characterised the British Army basically as having trained him and other soldiers to see his enemy as less than human, just as chess pieces on a board to be swiped off, which is not the case. It’s the opposite of the case.”
He said it was these comments in particular that could “incite some people to attempt an attack on British soldiers anywhere in the world”.
Col Kemp also said people who support the Taliban may now be “motivated to kill Harry” because of memories that have been “resurrected” by his comments.
He added: “Let’s hope they don’t succeed and I’m sure he’s got pretty good security, but that’s one problem.”
Analysis
‘Sharing’ may seem a good idea to whatever therapists Harry has been seeing but not in the minds of his former military mates and commanders.
There are very good reasons his friends and other veterans have expressed disappointment and concern and urged him to stop.
Not least because the revelations about the number of Taliban fighter he has killed will make life potentially more dangerous for his family and other British veterans.
Harry was the grandson of Britain’s then head of state, the Queen, when he served in her armed forces and killed what he says were 25 Taliban fighters.
The fact that he has described doing so, so dispassionately is a propaganda and recruitment godsend to the country’s enemies, something borne out by the reaction on Taliban and other extremist social media.
Whether he likes it or not, as a member of the Royal Family Harry’s role is political and has geopolitical and diplomatic consequences.
He does not seem to have thought that through.
He certainly did not seek authorisation from His Majesty’s Government prior to publication for details that could have a direct consequence on British subjects and interests.
Read more:
How did William and Harry’s relationship break down?
Analysis: Harry cuts a sad, self-indulgent and naive figure
Harry says ‘ball in their court’ for family reconciliation
Lord Darroch, a former national security adviser, said if he were guiding Prince Harry he would have “advised against the kind of detail that he goes into”.
“But it’s out there now,” he said.
“In terms of the detail I personally wouldn’t have gone there, but it’s done now.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Prince Harry: ‘I saw red mist in William’
Harry’s book also includes an explosive claim he was physically attacked by his brother William during a row over his marriage to Meghan Markle.
He also writes about the moment he was woken up by his father to be told his mother had been in a car accident.
The duke also admits to having taken cocaine and says he asked his father not to marry Camilla.
In a new trailer for an interview with ITV to promote the book, the duke says he saw a “red mist” in William during an argument between them.
He claims his brother “wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to”.
World
Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
👉 Tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈
The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
Read more:
Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway