A former Afghan interpreter who worked for King Charles has said Prince Harry’s comments about killing Taliban fighters are ‘unwise and un-royal’ and will endanger his family in the country.
Nazir Ayeen was granted asylum in Britain a decade ago after risking his life as a teenager on the frontline, during which time he translated for the then Prince of Wales and other high-level VIPs.
The 33-year-old responded after the Duke of Sussex revealed in his new book that he killed 25 people on his second tour of Afghanistan while serving as an Apache attack helicopter pilot.
The Prince, 38, says in the memoir, entitled Spare, that he flew on six missions which resulted in ‘the taking of human lives’, something of which he is neither proud nor ashamed.
His revelations come at a time when there has been a harshening of the Taliban’s treatment of women and reports of bloody retribution against those who served the two decades-long Western mission.
Mr Ayeen said: ‘It is right that Prince Harry was part of the British Army, operating as part of NATO for the freedom of Afghanistan against terrorism.
‘Killing the enemy is a reality of war, but at this moment in Afghanistan’s politics and history his words are very unwise and un-royal.
‘His comments will endanger the Afghan people, especially those who worked for the British military and government and other NATO allies.
‘They will face punishment and revenge from the Taliban at a time when the situation does not favour people’s freedom and human rights.
‘Prince Harry’s words will only add to the harsh treatment and danger that the Afghan people are already experiencing.
‘It might be his personal story but he has chosen to make it public at a time when the whole Western mission to bring hope, peace and stability to Afghanistan has ended in failure and the return of the Taliban.’
Prince Harry says in the book that in the heat of combat he did not think of the 25 as ‘people’ but as ‘chess pieces’ that had been taken off the board.
In the memoir, which was meant to be released on Tuesday until copies appeared on shelves in Spain yesterday, he describes watching video of each ‘kill’ when he returned to base. The footage was captured by a nose-mounted video camera on his Apache which recorded each mission.
The prince says that in the ‘din and confusion of combat’ he saw the insurgents he killed as ‘baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies’.
It is not possible to kill someone ‘if you see them as a person’, he says, but the Army had ‘trained me to “other” them and they had trained me well’.
Mr Ayeen, who lives in Fulham, West London, also told Metro.co.uk that Prince Harry is unwise to give a body count in a conflict where United Nations records show civilians were killed by fire from Apache crews operating with the International Security Assistance Force.
The British government is on record as saying it is regrettable that civilians were caught up in the missions against the Taliban.
‘The possibility of civilians being amongst the Taliban was very high and we have no way of knowing if they were caught up in the fire from Prince Harry’s Apache crews,’ Mr Ayeen said.
‘We also have to remember the Afghans who were fighting and dying on the ground for freedom, democracy and the future of the country. They are still fighting today as part of the National Resistance Front led by Ahmad Massoud, a mission started by the British and American governments.
‘For me personally, Prince Harry’s words will only heighten the serious danger for my family because I translated for King Charles.
‘His comments will definitely add to the morale of the Taliban and their views of the Western infidels, as they call them.
‘They will want retribution and revenge on the Afghans who supported the international mission in Afghanistan.’
Mr Ayeen regularly came under rocket and mortar attack during his work with British forces in the southern Helmand province.
The Londoner previously told Metro.co.uk that he signed up as an ‘idealistic’ 17-year-old hoping to bring stability to his country, serving between 2007 and 2010 with the Royal Marines and Scots Guards.
He interpreted for the future king during the royal’s visit to Afghanistan in March 2010 as well as senior British military figures and ministers including William Hague and Liam Fox, who were then foreign secretary and defence secretary respectively.
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Mr Ayeen arrived in the UK in 2013 after death threats from the Taliban and has since been given leave to remain.
’I found King Charles to be a well-mannered and well-rounded man of good characteristics and behaviour,’ he said. ‘He was very approachable and friendly and open to the Afghan people and society.
‘But I believe the Royal Family should remember and publicly acknowledge the Afghan people, who are still fighting, dying and suffering after the West’s failed mission in my homeland.’
Extracts to emerge from Prince Harry’s memoir so far concentrate on his personal contemplation of his service, where his second tour fell in 2012.
‘I made it my purpose, from day one, to never go to bed with any doubt whether I had done the right thing,’ he says. ‘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.’
The Prince says that the ‘era of Apaches and laptops’ means he is able to say ‘with exactness how many enemy combatants I had killed’.
The passage continues: ‘And it seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number. So my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me.’
The Duke recalls being in the TV room at Eton, watching news coverage of the 9/11 attacks on New York and later meeting the families of victims of the attacks during visits to America.
He describes those responsible and their sympathisers as ‘enemies of humanity’ and says that fighting them was an act of vengeance for one of the worst crimes in human history.
The Prince writes that the only shots he thought twice about were the ones he had not taken, and in particular being unable to help his Gurkha ‘brothers’ on an occasion when they were under fire from the Taliban and a communications failure meant he was not able to help them.
A senior Taliban leader, Anas Haqqani, tweeted this morning: ‘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.’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: ‘We do not comment on operational details for security reasons.’
Metro.co.uk has approached Prince Harry’s representatives for comment.
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