Prince Harry 'should appear before an international court' for killing 25 Afghans during army stint: Taliban

The UK's Prince Harry should be tried before an "international court" after he said he killed 25 people during his stint with the British army in Afghanistan, a senior Taliban official has said.

The prince has revealed in his autobiography Spare that he flew on six missions during his second tour in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter pilot in 2012, and admitted to being responsible for the deaths of 25 Taliban fighters. 

Taliban spokesperson Khalid Zadran reacted with fury when the revelations came to light on Thursday.

"Prince Harry will always be remembered in Helmand - Afghans will never forget the killing of their innocent countrymen," Zadran told The Telegraph. 

"The perpetrators of such crimes will one day be brought to the international court and criminals like Harry who proudly confess their crimes will be brought to the court table in front of the international community."

Zadran added that Prince Harry’s actions legitimised the Taliban's two-decade insurgency in Afghanistan following the 2001 US-led invasion of the country. 

"The cruel and barbaric actions of Harry and others aroused the Afghan population and led to an armed uprising against them. We call this kind of uprising holy jihad," he said. 

The Taliban themselves have been accused of committing brutal crimes against civilians, introducing public executions and flogging since they took over Afghanistan last year. 

The 38-year-old prince is eighth in line to the British throne. In 2020 he and his wife Meghan stepped down from their royal duties and have been engaged in a public feud with other members of the royal family ever since.

In Spare, Prince Harry also alleges that his brother Prince William punched him and knocked him to the ground during an argument.

UK forces were deployed in Afghanistan as part of a US and NATO-led coalition against the Taliban following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. 

British combat troops formally left Afghanistan after over a decade in 2014, while the last US troops departed in August 2021, just as the Taliban toppled the NATO-backed Afghan government and regained control of the country.