I have killed: Prince Harry reveals he's 'taken a life to save a life'
on the Afghan front line as he flies home from second tour of duty
Prince Harry flew out of Afghanistan tonight and admitted he had killed for the first time. Thoughtful but unrepentant, he said soldiers sometimes had to 'take a life to save a life'. In an interview to mark the end of his four-month tour of duty as an Apache attack helicopter pilot, the third in line to the throne confirmed he had been directly responsible for the deaths of one or more insurgents as a co-pilot gunner.
I have killed: Prince Harry reveals he's 'taken a life to save a life' on the Afghan front line as he flies home from second tour of duty
Revealing interview as Prince, 28, prepares to fly home to Britain from 20-week tour of war-ravaged Afghanistan
'Captain Wales', as he's known in the British Army, confirms he's had to kill on duty and says 'lots of people have'
He says he always wanted to be an 'Ugly' flying Apache attack helicopters but missed being on the frontline
Says his older brother Prince William envies his job flying helicopters in desert, saying 'he'd love to be out here'
Harry's commander says there's 'nothing safe' about job, and Harry's admits 'exhaustion' after seven-hour missions
Prince Harry says William envied him his daring job in Afghanistan
But Harry says he'd rather go home to a wife than a tent full of soldiers
The younger royal says he 'can't wait to be an uncle' this summer
Six inches from death: New biography reveals bravery of Prince Harry while serving in Afghanistan and how the royal once came just inches away from a deadly landmine
Explosive new biography reveals Harry's heroism as he served in Afghanistan
It recounts the moment when the Prince's Sparton narrowly avoided a landmine
Comrades also reveal how Harry would not complain despite -26C temperatures
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Harry was employed as a forward air controller and his task was to study what the troops knew as ‘Taliban TV’
The bleak villages and arid landscape of war-torn Helmand province might seem like a strange kind of ‘normal’, but for Prince Harry, the desert skies offered the greatest freedom he has ever known.
Deployed to southern Afghanistan with the Household Cavalry in late 2007, he found for the first time in his life that he could be almost completely anonymous, unrecognised in a world still without television.
The Prince could sit down to drink chai with village elders in the certain knowledge that they had no idea at all who he might be.
‘It’s very nice to be out of touch from everything. That is probably the nicest bit about this place,’ he said at the time.
‘OK, you’re walking around in two inches of sand, but you’re miles away from everybody, miles away from everything. It’s very nice to be a normal person for once.’
Yet his presence in Afghanistan brought terrible risks.
Home for Harry was an isolated forward operating base in the perilous Garmsir area, close to the Pakistani border which was, according to his commanding officer Major Mark Millford, ‘about as dangerous as it can get’ – as the Prince would soon discover for himself.
Harry was employed as a forward air controller and his task was to study what the troops knew as ‘Taliban TV’.
This was a live video feed from high-resolution cameras mounted on aircraft and unmanned drones.
Studying the images beamed to his laptop, Harry would hunt for troop movements or even signs of body heat that could betray the position of the Taliban.
The task was a delicate one, and Harry spent endless hours consulting detailed ‘pattern of life’ studies to identify places such as schools, mosques and marketplaces with innocent civilian traffic to ensure they were not targeted.
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Studying the images beamed to his laptop, Harry would hunt for troop movements or even signs of body heat that could betray the position of the Taliban
His first taste of action came as New Year’s Eve approached. Harry had stayed at his post in the operations room – a prefabricated hut lined with detailed maps – until well after midnight to make sure that his co-ordinates were accurate and that his intended targets were legitimate military objectives.
When a camera on a Desert Hawk drone picked out the shape of Taliban fighters moving between bunkers, he was watching.
Just before 10am, an enemy force attacked a group of Gurkhas at a small British observation post.
The first response came from three Royal Artillery guns at another British base seven miles away.
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When a camera on a Desert Hawk drone picked out the shape of Taliban fighters moving between bunkers, he was watching
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Prince Harry (fifth right) standing with other soldiers in his battle group as they pose for a photograph in the desert in Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan
This helped force the Taliban back. From his operations room, Harry plotted their retreat and scrambled two American F-15 fighters, ordering them to a holding position six miles away.
There, downwind and out of sight and earshot, the planes were a hidden death sentence for the Taliban fighters who by now had fled to a base codenamed Purple.
A period of deceptive calm followed, and a group of some 15 Taliban cautiously emerged in the false belief they were safe and undetected.
But the F-15s were waiting. And that was when Harry knew his moment had come.
Double-checking the co-ordinates, he called in the jets. The pilots signalled that they were in position with the words ‘In Hot’.
'After further checks, Harry delivered the command to attack, with the words ‘Cleared Hot’.
The jets screamed towards their target and dropped a single 500 lb bomb with devastating consequences.
The Taliban bunker – one Harry had been watching for days – simply disappeared amid the debris and dust of a ground-shuddering explosion.
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The Prince’s first mission had been a success. For Harry, however, the risks would only increase. Shortly afterwards he was moved to an even more isolated position at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, close to the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala
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Just weeks before, fundamentalist forces had been driven out of the town following a fierce three-day battle
Then there was a pause. To be sure, Harry called the jets back just minutes later with a second bomb. He could see no sign of life on Taliban TV.
The Prince’s first mission had been a success.
For Harry, however, the risks would only increase. Shortly afterwards he was moved to an even more isolated position at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, close to the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala.
Just weeks before, fundamentalist forces had been driven out of the town following a fierce three-day battle.
The mission for Harry’s C Squadron was to carry out reconnaissance on Taliban villages in Scimitar armoured cars and Spartan armoured personnel carriers.
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Prince Harry, as he sits atop a military vehicle in the Helmand province, Southern Afghanistan in 2008
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Out on reconnaissance, Harry and his comrades were frequently shot at in their Spartan
They were also responsible for making routes safe for British and Nato troops in an area heavily mined with crude but devastatingly effective improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
These were a clear and ever-present danger. This time, his contact with the enemy was rather more direct.
Out on reconnaissance, Harry and his comrades were frequently shot at in their Spartan.
Indeed, on just the second day of his posting with C Squadron, they found they were sitting ducks.
‘We were approaching a tiny bridge over a dry wadi [water channel] and we immediately slowed down,’ recalled Captain Dickon Leigh-Wood, who had known Harry since their days at Ludgrove prep school and who had trained with him at Combermere Barracks, near Windsor.
‘Whenever you approach something like a bridge, you’re on high alert because you’re expecting an ambush or an explosion.
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Revved up: Harry riding an abandoned motorbike in Helman
‘The guys in the back of the Spartans dismounted with their metal detectors and went forward and cleared the route.
‘On that occasion we were lucky: the kit worked and no one got hurt.
‘We were shot at pretty much every day and we got in a proper scrap once a week, but he dealt with it all and I think that’s what made him such a good officer.’
Photographer John Stillwell, who was in Harry’s tank for the Press Association, recalls an even more terrifying moment when he, the Prince and his unit found themselves blocked by a crude landmine.
‘We were in a riverbed waiting for help. There were houses on either side of us and I must admit, I was quite nervous – it was pretty dangerous,’ said Stillwell.
‘A sniper could easily have taken him out, but Harry didn’t seem to be worried at all.
‘He was just sitting up in the turret looking, watching, scanning both sides.’
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Leigh-Wood continued: ‘He often went into the villages with the interpreter to chat to locals, just to find out what was going on, drink some chai, and experience their life
As a forward air controller, it was Harry who called in a helicopter with a specialist Gurkha bomb disposal team on board.
The Prince later recalled the episode: ‘It proves the system does work, and the guys on the ground are pretty hot s***.’
The disposal team blew up the IED and the tanks were able to advance to safety.
‘It was group bravery rather than individual bravery, but I never saw Harry look frightened and the IED was about ten yards away from him,’ recalled Leigh-Wood.
‘We were all expecting the worst. He’s a ballsy character. He never backed out of doing anything.’
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I never once heard him complain,’ recalled Capt Leigh-Wood. Far from it, it seemed that the Prince was actually revelling in his freedom
Just a few days later came Harry’s closest brush with death.
Leigh-Wood was blunt: ‘We almost drove over an IED – it was a much closer shave than the first time.
‘One of the vehicles in the column suddenly noticed something flick underneath the tank in front and everyone was ordered to stop.
'You automatically think, “This is gonna go off. This is it.”
‘The previous vehicles, including Harry’s, had missed the pressure plate of an IED by about six inches. If any of us had gone over it, it would have been game over.’
Life in this unforgiving landscape was harsh. Harry and his colleagues slept in trenches known as shell scrapes that they had dug out and then surrounded with sandbags.
Each trench slept up to four people, huddled together in their sleeping bags for warmth, with no more than a tarpaulin pulled over the top for protection.
The temperature often dropped to -26C at night. ‘It was bone-achingly cold, but Harry just got on with it.
I never once heard him complain,’ recalled Capt Leigh-Wood. Far from it, it seemed that the Prince was actually revelling in his freedom.
Leigh-Wood continued: ‘He often went into the villages with the interpreter to chat to locals, just to find out what was going on, drink some chai, and experience their life.
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Prince Harry does a pre-flight check of his Apache Helicopter after starting his 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness)
‘He was never recognised and I think he really cherished that. These people had no TV.
'I don’t think they’d have recognised the Queen if she’d have been there. He was also brilliant at keeping everyone’s spirits up.
'We had a lot of Fijians in our troop.
'They love playing touch rugby and Harry’s obsessed with it, so he would often instigate a game right there in the middle of the desert with a ball he kept in the tank.’
Prince Harry leads Remembrance Day service with troops
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Prince Harry relaxes with after scoring a goal during computer football game with his fellow Apache Helicopter Pilot Capt Simon Beattie (left), during their 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness) shift at the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan
There was one episode in particular that stays with Capt Leigh-Wood: Harry, a keen motorcyclist, had been shocked when an American soldier with a Special Forces unit opened fire without warning and hit a man on a motorbike in the leg.
The victim, a shepherd, was taken away for interrogation, even though he appeared to be an innocent civilian.
‘Harry came up to me and suggested, “We should go and get that motorbike,” ’ Leigh-Wood said.
‘I asked him why and he said, “We need to give it back to that guy when he recovers and make sure someone else doesn’t steal it.”
‘Harry managed to clean it up and kick-start it. We gave it to the village elder and said it belonged to the wounded shepherd. They were very grateful.
‘It summed up Harry.’
Prince Harry presenting awards at the Army Aviation Centre
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A brief encounter on Valentine's Day
When Harry left for Afghanistan, he had only just patched things up with his then girlfriend Chelsy Davy after a row, but they were determined to make the relationship work.
Harry carried a picture of Chelsy with him and told his fellow soldiers about his girlfriend.
On Valentine’s Day he received a pair of knickers, which caused his fellow officers to tease him mercilessly.
Harry thought the purple-and-yellow briefs were a joke present from Chelsy, and he tied them to the grill of his Spartan for a laugh.
In fact, the underwear belonged to a stripper and was a parting gift from fellow soldier Captain Dickon Leigh-Wood, who was heading home for a short respite from the front line.
He said: ‘I drove to the base to be picked up by helicopter and as I was waiting I got my mail, which was a Valentine’s card with a pair of knickers inside that a friend of mine bought for an extortionate amount of money from a stripper in London.
'As I was coming home, I redirected the mail to Harry with a made-up name.'Tara PT's rooftop clinch with a 'loveable rotter'
The late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson had long been friends with William and Harry and was well used to their high jinks.
Speaking to me before her death from a perforated ulcer in
February 2017, the socialite recalled an episode from the years before Harry met and fell in love with American actress Meghan Markle.
‘I don’t think he wanted to be tied down at all at that stage – he still had his wild oats to sow,’ she said.
‘His friend Melissa Percy lives next door to me, and one night Harry was over and they were having a party.
‘Our roof terraces link and suddenly I heard a crash. Harry jumped over the flowerpots and was on my terrace knocking on my patio door. I was a little surprised to see him, but I let him in.
‘The next thing I knew he was kissing me, a proper French kiss! He traced a star on my forehead with his finger and said “Close your eyes, beautiful girl, tickle, tickle, kiss, kiss”, and the next thing he was gone.
‘I was rather taken aback to say the least, but that was typical of Harry – he is a lovable rotter.
‘That kiss was rather nice and he was so sweet about the whole thing – and I have to say rather sexy.’
Prince William envies his younger brother flying helicopters on the frontline while Prince Harry envies William his satisfying job and cosy family set-up, the younger Prince revealed today.
In an honest interview conducted before the 28-year-old Prince Harry flew back to Britain after a 20-week tour of Afghanistan, he shed light on his relationship with his brother.
And he revealed that Prince William is privately frustrated at not being able to serve on the frontline because of his future role.
Prince William, left, works as a Search and Rescue pilot while Harry, right, is a co-pilot gunner in Helmand
Prince Harry, who has just finished his second deployment in Afghanistan, where he was a co-pilot gunner in Apache helicopters, said: 'I think there is a bit of jealousy, not just the fact that I get to fly this, but obviously he'd love to be out here.
'And to be honest with you, I don't see why he couldn't.
'His job out here would be flying the IRT [Immediate Response Team], or whatever, doing Chinook missions. Just the same as us - no-one knows who's in the cockpit.
'Yes you get shot at, but if the guys who are doing the same job as us are being shot at on the ground, I don't think there's anything wrong with us being shot at as well.
'People back home will have issues with that, but we're not special. The guys out there are, simple as that.'
William, 30, the future Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is an RAF Flight Lieutenant and works as a Search and Rescue Force pilot on Sea King helicopters. Daring job: Harry's Apache helicopter work in the Afghan desert is envied by his older brother William. Based at RAF Valley on Anglesey in North Wales, he commands missions to help stranded climbers and stricken vessels in the area.
Prince Harry revealed there is envy on both sides. 'Before coming out here I was very jealous of my brother,' he said. 'It's operational flying back home. You get all the luxuries of operational flying - the pride, as you call it - and the reward of basically saving people's lives, which is exactly what we try and do as well. 'And back home he gets to go home to his wife and dog, whereas out here we don't. We're stuck playing PlayStation in a tent full of men.'While Harry flies an Apache helicopter, his older brother flies a completely different Sea King helicopter. 'He could fly this. I'd like to think I could fly his,' he said. William's bedroom is probably nicer than this sleeping area that Prince Harry called home for 20 weeks
Captain Wales, as Harry is known in the army, added with a brotherly dig: ‘His job's very cool, and I think he's doing a wonderful job. Even though he's in the RAF.’ Harry is the latest in a long line of royals who have served in the Armed Forces, particularly flying helicopters. The Prince of Wales and Duke of York both trained as helicopter pilots, with Andrew taking part in missions in the Falklands War. But Harry revealed it is not just the family association with rotary aircraft that intrigued him and his brother. ‘Probably the fact that you can only fit a certain amount of people in a helicopter, therefore no one can follow us - like you guys,’ he joked with the press.
‘Our father flew, our uncle's flown, all sorts of people have flown in my family.
Top Gun: Prince Harry enjoyed his work escorting Chinook helicopters on daring missions in Helmand
‘And I wouldn't suggest that's where it's come from, but it is great fun, and I was given the opportunity in the end, and I couldn't say no to it.’
In the interview Prince Harry, who is '100 per cent single', also spoke of his happiness about becoming an uncle this summer.
'Obviously I'm thrilled for both of them,' he said in Helmand shortly after news of the Duchess of Cambridge's pregnancy came out.
'It's about time,' he joked. 'I can't wait to be an uncle.'
He said he had telephoned the future parents to congratulate them, adding: 'Of course I have - I had a chat to them.'
Asked if there was pressure on him to settle down, he said: 'I don't think you can ever be urged to settle down.
'If you find the right person and everything feels right, then it takes time, especially for myself and my brother.
'You ain't ever going to find someone who's going to jump into the position that it would hold, simple as that.'
Soldier prince says his army officer job means he often forgets who he is
The 28-year-old says Prince Charles tells him 'Remember who you are'
He says his Las Vegas pictures were 'too much army, not enough prince'
But Harry says he ought to be afforded a 'certain amount of privacy'
Prince Harry has said it is 'easy to forget' who he is in the Army in a candid interview ahead of his return to the UK. There is only one rule as far as the soldier prince is concerned: Work hard, play hard. But in one of the most candid admissions of his interview, Harry remarks that a concerned Prince Charles frequently attempts to remind him of what is required of the third in line to the throne. Harry confesses he ‘let himself and his family down’ after being photographed cavorting naked in Las Vegas last year, but, unsurprisingly given his comments, is largely unrepentant. The 28-year-old royal concedes he should have acted in a more ‘princely’ manner but says the media should never have published ‘private’ photos of him playing strip billiards with a group of women he had met in his hotel bar. Like many headstrong young men, Harry says he shrugs off his father’s wise words of caution, even if he is heir to the throne. ‘My father’s always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that. But it’s very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the Army. Everyone’s wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing,’ he says. ‘I have always said work hard, play hard. I will always be enjoying the job … however long it may carry on for, and then I have the other job to fall back on.’
He adds: ‘Certain people remind me, “Remember who you are, so don’t always drop your guard”. At the end of the day I probably let myself down [in Vegas], I let my family down, I let other people down.
‘But I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect. Back at home all my close friends rallied around me and were great.
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Prince Harry on his controversial Las Vegas trip, left, and right, his father hard at work in Liverpool today. One of the boys: Prince Harry says everyone is the same in the army and he enjoys blending in
‘It was probably a classic case of me being too much Army and not enough prince. It’s a simple case of that.’
The leaked pictures were taken on a riotous boys-only pre-deployment holiday to Vegas last summer, weeks before he flew out to Afghanistan. They show a naked Harry cupping his genitals as he hugs an unnamed blonde, who is also nude. The pair had apparently been playing a game of strip billiards.
It is believed the photos, sold to a US entertainment website, were taken by one of the guests invited back to his £5,000-a-night suite in the Wynn Hotel.
Their publication provoked a debate over whether Harry violated his own privacy in showing such a lapse of judgment, and raised questions over the role of his taxpayer-funded Scotland Yard protection officers.
A rare glimpse of his day job: Prince Harry inspects his Apache helicopter before take-off from Camp Bastion
HRH Prince Harry inspects his Apache Helicopter before lift off on a night mission from Camp Bastion
Although the pictures were seen around the world, his solicitors threatened action against any UK newspaper that published them.
Only one, the Sun, chose to do so but St James’s Palace took no further action. Harry, however, says it is ‘unacceptable’ that anything was published, knowing that he was about to be deployed. ‘Yes people might look at it going, “Yes it was letting off steam, it’s all understandable now, he was going off to Afghanistan”. 'Well, the papers knew that I was going out to Afghanistan anyway, so the way I was treated by them I don’t think is acceptable.’ Harry openly admits that one of the reasons he likes his job as an Apache pilot so much is that it takes him away from the media interest. ‘My father always says, “Don’t read it, it’s rubbish” [but] I am surprised how many people in the UK do actually read it. Of course, if something is written about me I want to know what is said,’ he says.
‘I don’t believe there is such a thing as a private life any more ... I am not going to sit here and whinge [but] there’s the internet, there’s Twitter.
'Everyone’s phone has a camera on it now. You can’t move an inch without people judging you, that’s the way life goes.’
Asked how far his mistrust of the media goes back, Harry says sharply: ‘I think it’s fairly obvious how far back it goes. It’s when I was very small.’
But he adds: ‘But at least I have a job, many other people don’t.’
I'm not academic but I thrash the guys at Fifa: Harry's Camp Bastion downtime
Old Etonian soldier says he was 'useless at exams' but wins on the Xbox
The 28-year-old Prince says computer games helped him be a good pilot
He plays games, watches films, and works out at gym when not flying
Control pad demon: Prince Harry unwinds at Camp Bastion
Sitting exams at school was 'a nightmare' for Prince Harry, but like many of his age the third in line to the throne is a whiz at computer games on the PlayStation and Xbox.
Harry, who was educated at Ludgrove Prep School and Eton College, said he was 'absolutely useless' at written tests at school, but is making up for it now by beating his army colleagues at computer games.
He said: 'You can ask the guys: I thrash them at Fifa the whole time.'
In an interview conducted before he flew home to the UK from his deployment as an Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner (CPG), the 28-year-old revealed how he and his friends in 662 Squadron based in Camp Bastion played computer games and ate pizza when they had time off.
He also talked about his living conditions at the dusty army base, and revealed he was sent a jar of Clarence House honey made by bees at the Prince of Wales' official residence.
The young royal also said his father had sent him a box of Cuban cigars, some of which he traded with American soldiers in exchange for their treats from home.
Showing appealing modesty about his obvious skills as a pilot, the Prince said his skills at sports and games helped pave the way for him to become a top pilot.
He said: 'Exams were always a nightmare, but anything like kicking a ball around or playing PlayStation - or flying - I do generally find a little bit easier than walking, sometimes.
'It's a joy for me because I'm one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think that I'm probably quite useful.'
The Prince said taking the controls in the helicopter came naturally to him, and he qualified top of his class as a CPG despite finding the academic side tricky.
Prince Harry flew out of Afghanistan tonight and admitted he had killed for the first time. Thoughtful but unrepentant, he said soldiers sometimes had to ‘take a life to save a life’. In an interview to mark the end of his four-month tour of duty as an Apache attack helicopter pilot, the third in line to the throne confirmed he had been directly responsible for the deaths of one or more insurgents as a co-pilot gunner.
Ready for action: Captain Wales carries an SA80 Carbine, modified for use in a cramped cockpit
'Everyone's fired a certain amount': Captain Wales, as he is known in Helmand, says he has had to kill from the cockpit of his Apache helicopter in Afghanistan
'It's a pretty complex job for everyone involved': Prince Harry says he mostly worked on escorting Chinooks on daring evacuation raids
Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, races out from the VHR (very high readiness) tent to scramble his Apache with fellow Pilots, during his 12 hour shift at the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan
Prince Harry does a pre-flight check of his Apache Helicopter after starting his 12 hour VHR (very high readiness) shift at Camp Bastion. WHY IT'S SO HARD TO FIND MY PRINCESS. He is one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. But according to Harry, being a prince means he has a constant struggle to find love. In fact, the 28-year-old bemoans the fact that potential princesses are put off by his position, rather than attracted by it. ‘You ain’t ever going to find someone who’s going to jump into the position that it would hold. Simple as that,’ he says. Asked whether he was currently single, he responds: ‘I’m just out here doing my job. That’s all I can say at the moment.’ But he admits brother William, who married long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton in 2011, has suffered the same personal doubts. He says: ‘I don’t think you can ever be urged to settle down. If you find the right person and everything feels right, then it takes time. . . especially for myself and my brother.’ He is clearly delighted, however, at the thought of becoming an uncle, saying he ‘can’t wait’. William and Kate, he says, broke the news of her pregnancy to him in Afghanistan over the phone. ‘Obviously I’m thrilled for both of them – it’s about time! – and I can’t wait to be an uncle,’ he said. ‘I am very, very happy for them, but I only hope that she and him – but mainly Catherine – hopefully, that she gets the necessary protection to allow her as a mother-to-be to enjoy the privacy that comes with it.’For seven years, Harry was in an on-off relationship with Zimbabwean-born trainee lawyer, Chelsy Davy. Although the tempestuous couple, who split shortly after William and Kate’s wedding, adored each other, Chelsy hated the ‘straitjacket’ of royal life. Afterwards Harry briefly romanced underwear model Florence Brudenell-Bruce, but split with her to concentrate on the final phase of his Army Air Corps training. Shortly before being deployed, he began a romance with Cressida Bonas, 23, the daughter of Sixties It-girl Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon. Asked if he had killed from the cockpit of his £40million aircraft, the 28-year-old prince said matter-of-factly: ‘Yeah, so lots of people have. The squadron’s been out here. Everyone’s fired a certain amount.’ Harry discusses his military career, becoming an uncle – and the notorious photos of him gallivanting naked in Las Vegas shortly before his deployment. Tonight, as he began a few days of relaxation at a British base in Cyprus before returning to Britain, he admitted that while Prince Charles is ‘always trying to remind me about who I am’, he prefers to live by his own motto: ‘Work hard, play hard.’In the interview, Harry also:
Reveals his brother William is jealous at not being allowed to fly helicopters in Afghanistan;
Says he ‘can’t wait’ to become an uncle to William and Kate’s baby;
Bemoans the fact that despite being one of the world’s most eligible bachelors he ‘ain’t ever going to find’ someone who wants to ‘jump in’ and become his wife;
Suggests his skill at PlayStation computer games may have made him a better pilot.
His admission that he killed insurgents is likely to be seized on by the Taliban for propaganda purposes. But the prince is unapologetic, saying: ‘Take a life to save a life, that’s what we revolve around. If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game. ‘I’m not here on a free pass...our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on the ground and if that means shooting someone who is shooting them, then we will do it.’ A senior Army source said: ‘Harry is flying an attack helicopter and that’s one of the jobs the guys do: Attack. It would be unthinkable for a gunner to go on a deployment and not have several engagements with the enemy. Of course he has killed.’ Harry was deployed with 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, to Camp Bastion in Southern Helmand in September. His first tour of duty as a forward air commander on the ground was cut short in 2008 when news of his deployment leaked in the US. Ministry of Defence officials deemed his continued presence there a risk to his fellow soldiers. Desperate to return to the front line, he retrained as a helicopter pilot and was picked to fly the 200mph Apache, the pride of the military’s airborne fleet, with his finger on the trigger of an arsenal of weapons including rockets, missiles and a 30mm cannon. British media were given unprecedented access during his time in Afghanistan in return for not speculating about his deployment in advance or publishing information that could exacerbate potential danger.
It is when talking about his work as an Apache pilot that he is clearly at his most comfortable. Harry – Captain Wales in the Army – was sent on all manner of missions over Helmand, from supporting Allied troops fighting the Taliban at close quarters to accompanying British Chinook and US Black Hawk helicopters on casualty evacuation missions. He has been hailed by his colleagues and superiors for being ‘on top of his game’ during the tour. Harry was given no special treatment and worked, ate and slept in the same basic conditions as the other pilots. It is, in his own words, ‘as normal as it’s going to get. I’m one of the guys, I don’t get treated any differently’. He admits that his work is interspersed with periods of intense boredom while waiting for a call-out and he whiled away his time watching DVDs and playing computer games. He even allowed himself to be photographed wearing a silly Santa hat, complete with blond plaits, to make his colleagues breakfast at Christmas and turn on their festive lights. His father, he revealed, had sent him a food parcel containing a jar of Clarence House garden honey and a box of huge Cuban cigars.
VIDEO Prince Harry confirms he killed Taliban insurgents
Prince Harry appears to be sharing a joke with photographers as he gets into his Apache helicopter during early morning pre-flight checks
Prince Harry chats to reporters and a TV crew following the checks on his aircraft
During his deployment his colleagues and superiors hailed him for fitting into his unit well and being 'on top of his game' during the 'extremely busy' and dangerous tour
This previously unseen photograph shows Capt Wales flying off, left, in his Apache as protection for a Chinook helicopter, shown right, during a raid in the desert
Captain Wales watches the return from a mission of an Apache helicopter at the British-copntrolled flight-line in Camp Bastion
Prince Harry has spoken for the first time about how he killed enemy fighters from his Apache helicopter during his latest tour of Afghanistan
VIDEO Prince Harry talks about his brother's jealousy over active service
Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, inspects his Apache Helicopter before lift off on a night mission from Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan
Prince Harry admitted he had 'killed from the cockpit' before adding that 'many had'
In a revealing series of interviews given to the Press at the end of Prince Harry's second tour of Afghanistan, he also said that his older brother was 'jealous' of his job flying helicopters in the desert
In his job as a co-pilot gunner (CPG), he flew on missions both planned and unplanned, often for hours on end over the barren desert, supporting the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), the Afghan National Army (ANA), and Afghan National Police
The Apache Helicopter co-piloted by Prince Harry or just plain Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, before lift off on a night mission from Camp Bastion
PRINCE WILLIAM ENVIES HARRY'S LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE
Prince William has privately expressed his frustration at not being able to serve on the frontline. The future king, 30, is barred from serving in a warzone because it is considered ‘too dangerous’ given his future role and, says Harry, is hugely jealous of his own second tour in Afghanistan. Harry is equally dismissive of the convention and says he cannot see why his brother shouldn’t get the chance to serve his country. ‘Yes, you get shot at. But if the guys who are doing the same job as us are being shot at on the ground, I don't think there's anything wrong with us being shot at as well,’ he said. ‘People back home will have issues with that, but we're not special. The guys out there are; simple as that.’
Downtime: Prince Harry claims he beats most of his co-fighters at Fifa on the PlayStation. Here he is seen celebrating a goal in a match against Pilot Captain Simon Beattie (left)
While he admits he didn't perform well academically, Prince Harry said he was good at PlayStation and gave many people on his base a run for their money.
I thrash the guys at Fifa: Harry's Bastion downtime. Sitting exams at school was 'a nightmare' for Prince Harry, but like many of his age the third in line to the throne is a whiz at computer games on the PlayStation and Xbox. Harry, who was educated at Ludgrove Prep School and Eton College, said he was 'absolutely useless' at written tests at school, but is making up for it now by beating his army colleagues at computer games. He said: 'You can ask the guys: I thrash them at Fifa the whole time.' In an interview conducted before he flew home to the UK from his deployment as an Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner (CPG), the 28-year-old revealed how he and his friends in 662 Squadron based in Camp Bastion played computer games and ate pizza when they had time off. He also talked about his living conditions at the dusty army base, and revealed he was sent a jar of Clarence House honey made by bees at the Prince of Wales' official residence. The young royal also said his father had sent him a box of Cuban cigars, some of which he traded with American soldiers in exchange for their treats from home. Showing appealing modesty about his obvious skills as a pilot, the Prince said his skills at sports and games helped pave the way for him to become a top pilot. He said: 'Exams were always a nightmare, but anything like kicking a ball around or playing PlayStation - or flying - I do generally find a little bit easier than walking, sometimes. 'It's a joy for me because I'm one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think that I'm probably quite useful.'
Captain Wales relaxes with Simon Beattie under a shelter protecting them from the intense Afghan sun
As well as going on dangerous missions Prince Harry has to put up with the more mundane parts of life. Here he chats to a TV crew while making his breakfast
Go Ugly Early: Prince Harry says he has always dreamed of having the 'Ugly' call sign of the Apache helicopters he flew on his second tour of Afghanistan. He had a vast firepower at his disposal when he was flying, as illustrated by this t-shirt worn by an Apache ground crew member
Eye on the ball: Prince Harry says he understands the different duties he has to carry out as a royal and as a soldier
My father tells me to act more like a prince, admits Harry (but he's unrepentant about Las Vegas photos)
Prince Harry is regularly nudged by his father and told to remember who he is, he revealed today.
In a candid interview conducted on the eve of his return to Britain from Afghanistan, the soldier Prince said he found life in the Army made it 'easy to forget' who he was.
He added that he often needed reminding by Prince Charles about keeping his public face up.
He admitted he 'let himself and his family down' after he was photographed naked at a pre-Afghanistan party in Las Vegas last summer, but remained largely unrepentant, saying he deserved some privacy.
The 28-year-old royal, who has been an army officer for six-and-a-half years, said he felt far more comfortable as 'Captain Wales' than 'Prince Harry'.
'Definitely, I've always been like that,' he said.
'My father's always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that, but it's very easy to forget who I am when I am in the army.
Go ugly early: The Apache helicopters the young prince always dreamed of flying
For 28-year-old Prince Harry, flying Apache helicopters over war-ravaged Afghanistan has been a dream come true.
The 'Go Ugly Early' call sign is much coveted in the armed forces, and the Prince and his co-pilots proudly wore its badges on their kit.
Prince Harry said: 'I don't know the story behind it, but I've always wanted to be an Ugly.
'Ever since I was a JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) back in 2009, speaking to the Uglies was always the number one.'
He added: 'Things have changed now. We've got no Harriers any more, the Tornados are working elsewhere, so this is the choice platform as far as we're concerned for the guys on the ground.
'I don't know where the Ugly came from but it is a pretty ugly beast, and I think it's very cool.'
The royal has his Ugly Badge fixed to his flying helmet, alongside one with 'Harry Wales' stitched in yellow onto a black Stars and Stripes flag, and another of the classic Blue/Red/Blue flash of the Household Division.
From his seat in the front of the two-man cockpit, he is in charge of the weapons systems, which includes Hellfire missiles, rockets, and a 30mm gun.
He said: 'It's a joy for me because I'm one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think that I'm probably quite useful.'
Prince Harry, left, enjoys his job as an Apache helicopter pilot and says brother William, right, who is a Search and Rescue pilot in Wales, would like to see active service
Royal bedroom: Prince Harry dresses up in a Santa hat to amuse his colleagues and reveals the red mattress and uncovered duvet where he sleeps at Camp Bastion
Downtime: Harry is one of the top-scorers in the Camp Bastion PlayStation league, pictured playing left and right with co-pilot Captain Simon Beattie.
Taliban insurgents have stepped up suicide attacks and bombings this month in what they are calling a "Spring Offensive", striking targets all over Afghanistan. Insider attacks on NATO and Afghan National Army forces have declined, possibly due to new "guardian angel" tactics, where soldiers are designated to provide security during training and oversight missions. I'd also like to take a moment to direct your attention to Ben Anderson's Afghanistan documentary on VICE.com, What Winning Looks Like. If you're at all interested in what the situation is like in Afghanistan right now, this documentary is well worth the time, showing the good, bad, and ugly sides of the war as we approach the 2014 withdrawal deadline. The photos below are show scenes from this conflict over the past month, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.
My naked Vegas snaps? A case of too much Army and not enough prince, says Harry who admits 'letting himself and family down'
Soldier prince says his army officer job means he often forgets who he is
The 28-year-old says Prince Charles tells him 'Remember who you are'
He says his Las Vegas pictures were 'too much army, not enough prince'
But Harry says he ought to be afforded a 'certain amount of privacy'
Prince Harry has said it is 'easy to forget' who he is in the Army in a candid interview ahead of his return to the UK
There is only one rule as far as the soldier prince is concerned: Work hard, play hard.
But in one of the most candid admissions of his interview, Harry remarks that a concerned Prince Charles frequently attempts to remind him of what is required of the third in line to the throne. Harry confesses he ‘let himself and his family down’ after being photographed cavorting naked in Las Vegas last year, but, unsurprisingly given his comments, is largely unrepentant. The 28-year-old royal concedes he should have acted in a more ‘princely’ manner but says the media should never have published ‘private’ photos of him playing strip billiards with a group of women he had met in his hotel bar. Like many headstrong young men, Harry says he shrugs off his father’s wise words of caution, even if he is heir to the throne. ‘My father’s always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that. But it’s very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the Army. Everyone’s wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing,’ he says. ‘I have always said work hard, play hard. I will always be enjoying the job … however long it may carry on for, and then I have the other job to fall back on.’ He adds: ‘Certain people remind me, “Remember who you are, so don’t always drop your guard”. At the end of the day I probably let myself down [in Vegas], I let my family down, I let other people down.‘But I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect. Back at home all my close friends rallied around me and were great.
Prince Harry on his controversial Las Vegas trip, left, and right, his father hard at work in Liverpool today
One of the boys: Prince Harry says everyone is the same in the army and he enjoys blending in. ‘It was probably a classic case of me being too much Army and not enough prince. It’s a simple case of that.’ The leaked pictures were taken on a riotous boys-only pre-deployment holiday to Vegas last summer, weeks before he flew out to Afghanistan. They show a naked Harry cupping his genitals as he hugs an unnamed blonde, who is also nude. The pair had apparently been playing a game of strip billiards. It is believed the photos, sold to a US entertainment website, were taken by one of the guests invited back to his £5,000-a-night suite in the Wynn Hotel. Their publication provoked a debate over whether Harry violated his own privacy in showing such a lapse of judgment, and raised questions over the role of his taxpayer-funded Scotland Yard protection officers.
A rare glimpse of his day job: Prince Harry inspects his Apache helicopter before take-off from Camp Bastion
HRH Prince Harry inspects his Apache Helicopter before lift off on a night mission from Camp Bastion. Although the pictures were seen around the world, his solicitors threatened action against any UK newspaper that published them. Only one, the Sun, chose to do so but St James’s Palace took no further action. Harry, however, says it is ‘unacceptable’ that anything was published, knowing that he was about to be deployed. ‘Yes people might look at it going, “Yes it was letting off steam, it’s all understandable now, he was going off to Afghanistan”. 'Well, the papers knew that I was going out to Afghanistan anyway, so the way I was treated by them I don’t think is acceptable.’ Harry openly admits that one of the reasons he likes his job as an Apache pilot so much is that it takes him away from the media interest.
Hard at work: Captain Wales, as he is known in the army, in the cockpit of his Apache helicopter
Harry walks towards the VHR (very high ready-ness) tent to start his 12 hour shift, at Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan But he says that being in the Royal Family requires both himself and his brother to constantly ‘flick a switch’ between their different personas. ‘There are three “me”s – one in the Army, one sort of socially in my own private time, and then one with the family and stuff like that,’ he says. ‘No one back home gets to see the stuff that I do while I’m at work and there’s no reason why they should... So whenever anybody sees me they presume that I’m off gallivanting around.’ Although he repeatedly says he ‘doesn’t want to whinge’, Harry lays the blame for his ‘bad boy’ public person at the feet of the media.
HRH Prince Harry (foreground) or just plain Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, relaxes with computer football games with his fellow Apache Helicopter crew, in Camp Bastion
Prince Harry celebrates after scoring a goal during computer football game with his fellow Apache Helicopter Pilot Capt Simon Beattie (left)
Prince Harry relaxes with fellow Pilots in their VHR (very high ready-ness) at the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan. ‘My father always says, “Don’t read it, it’s rubbish” [but] I am surprised how many people in the UK do actually read it. Of course, if something is written about me I want to know what is said,’ he says. ‘I don’t believe there is such a thing as a private life any more ... I am not going to sit here and whinge [but] there’s the internet, there’s Twitter. 'Everyone’s phone has a camera on it now. You can’t move an inch without people judging you, that’s the way life goes.’ Asked how far his mistrust of the media goes back, Harry says sharply: ‘I think it’s fairly obvious how far back it goes. It’s when I was very small.’ But he adds: ‘But at least I have a job, many other people don’t.’
An Afghan National Army soldier assigned to the Mobile Strike Force Kandak fires an RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher during a live-fire exercise supervised by the Marines with the Mobile Strike Force Advisor Team on Camp Shorabak, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on May 20, 2013. (USMC/Staff Sgt. Ezekiel R. Kitandwe) 
A young Afghan man jumps from a diving board into a swimming pool on a hill overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 17, 2013. The swimming pool build by the Soviets more then 30 years ago has rarely been used caught instead in the middle of decades of war.(AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) #
Afghan air force 2nd Lt. Niloofar Rhmani walks the flight line at Shindand Air Base, Afghanistan, prior to her graduation from undergraduate pilot training, on May 13, 2013. Rhmani made history on May 14, when she became the first female to successfully complete undergraduate pilot training and earn the status of pilot in more than 30 years. She will continue her service as she joins the Kabul Air Wing as a Cessna 208 pilot. (USAF/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas) #
An Afghan family walks at the Hazrat-e Ali shrine in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, on May 9, 2013. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani) #
Marine Sgt. Ross Gundlach, of Madison, Wisconsin, gets a kiss from Casey, a four-year-old yellow labrador that he worked with while deployed in Afghanistan, as the two are reunited during a surprise ceremony, on May 17, 2013, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. Gundlach thought he was traveling to the Iowa Capitol to tell state officials why he should take ownership of the dog, which has been working for the state fire marshal's office. Gundlach didn't realize officials already had made arrangements to get another dog for explosives detection. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) #
A U.S. soldier arrives on the scene where a suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul, on May 16, 2013. A Muslim militant group, Hizb-e-Islami, claimed responsibility for the early morning attack, killing many in the explosion and wounding tens, police and hospital officials said. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) #
NATO soldiers with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) arrive at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul May 16, 2013.(Reuters/Mohammad Ismail) #
An Afghan woman harvests wheat on the outskirts of Kabul, on May 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid) #
A trailer transports armored vehicles, used by NATO forces during the Afghan war, along a road after their arrival at Port Mohammad Bin Qasim, some 40 km (25 miles) from Karachi, on May 25, 2013. After more than ten year NATO and U.S. have started withdrawal of their equipments from Afghanistan, local media reported. (Reuters/Athar Hussain) #
Corpsmen with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, II Marine Logistics Group provide medical care to an Afghan Uniformed Police officer at Combat Outpost Musa Qa'la, on May 18, 2013. The AUP were patrolling through Musa Qa'la District when a roadside IED detonated. The police officer sustained minor injuries to his head and face, caused by shrapnel from the explosion. (USMC/Sgt. Bobby J. Yarbrough) #
Sophia Phillips plugs her ears as the firing party fires three rifle volleys for her father, US Army Staff Sergeant Francis G. Phillips IV, as members of the US Army honor guard perform a full military honors burial service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on May 20, 2013. Phillips, from Meridian, New York was killed in combat in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images) #
A Mobile Strike Force Vehicle assigned to the Afghan National Army Mobile Strike Force Kandak, navigates through a series of obstacles at a rough terrain driving course on Camp Bastion, Helmand province, on May 13, 2013. (USMC/ Staff Sgt. Ezekiel R. Kitandwe) #
Newly graduated Afghan National Army soldiers attend their graduation ceremony at the Kabul Military Training Center in Kabul, on May 23, 2013. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani) #
Zardana, 11, talks in Kandahar, Afghanistan on April 22, 2013 about a pre-dawn incident on March 11, 2012, when she says a U.S. soldier burst into her family's home. Zardana said her visiting cousin saw the soldier chasing them and ran to help, but he was shot and killed. "We couldn't stop. We just wanted somewhere to hide. I was holding on to my grandmother and we ran to our neighbors." Family members explained that Zardana was also shot in the head. She spent about two months recovering at the Kandahar Air Base hospital and three more at a naval hospital in San Diego receiving rehabilitation therapy, accompanied by her father, Samiullah. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales of Lake Tapps, Washington, is accused of the killings. Bales is due to give the specific details of the massacre in open court this week, as he pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) #
A team of wrecker operators with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, hook a seven-ton truck chassis during vehicle recovery training at Twentynine Palms, California, May 25, 2013. The Marines pulled the chassis from a sandy ravine as part of a training exercise meant to prepare them for possible scenarios they may encounter during their upcoming deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (USMC/Cpl. Paul Peterson) #
An arrested Taliban fighter is displayed to the media in Panjwai district of Kandahar province, on May 28, 2013.(Jangir/AFP/Getty Images) #
U.S. Army Sgt. Leroy Petry, who lost his right hand in 2008 while serving in Afghanistan, holds a baseball prior to delivering it to the mound for a Memorial Day baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners, on May 27, 2013, in Seattle.(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) #
Children run away after an explosion in Kabul, on May 24, 2013. Several large explosions rocked a busy area in the center of the Afghan capital, with Reuters witnesses describing shooting in the area. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani) #
An Afghan policeman fires his weapon during a gun battle following a suicide attack in Kabul, on May 24, 2013. A suicide bomber struck in the heart of the Afghan capital, sending a plume of smoke billowing over Kabul. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid) #
A wounded Afghan policeman is carried away from the site of an explosion in Kabul, on May 24, 2013. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani) #
In this photograph taken on May 7, 2013, Afghan miner Morad Ali, 30, stands where he was searching for gold in a mountainside near the village of Qara Zaghan in Baghlan province. Ali is one of generations of local men who have used chisels and pickaxes to extract small amounts of gold from the forbidding peaks above the village of Qara Zaghan on the edge of the Hindu Kush mountains. Now a dirt track has been carved up to the spot, and professional surveying is underway as part of efforts to assess how Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth could be exploited as the country seeks a more stable and prosperous future. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images) #
A foreign youth pops an ollie on her skateboard as Afghan youths gather for The Sound Central Festival at the French Cultural Center in Kabul, on May 2, 2013. The Sound Central Festival, now on its second year, is the only event of its kind that takes places in Afghanistan, where music was banned by the Taliban until the end of 2001. (Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images) #
Honor guards stand next to the coffins of Georgian servicemen who were recently killed in Afghanistan, in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 16, 2013. Three Georgian soldiers serving with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan were killed in an insurgent attack on a base in Helmand province. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) #
Moha Zakir, a trainee at the Afghan National Army commando school at Camp Moorehead. (USAF/Staff Sgt. Dustin Payne) #
U.S. Army Spc. Robert Purvis, a generator mechanic with Headquarters Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, skypes with his wife Shandel Purvis, on May 13, 2013, from Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, as they wait for the birth of their first son at Winn Army Community Hospital, Fort Stewart, Georgia.(US Army/Staff Sgt. Elvis Umanzor) #
An Afghan National Army commando with 3rd Company, 1st Special Operations Kandak, pulls security on a patrol through a poppy field during a clearing operation in Khugyani district, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, on May 9, 2013. (US Army/Staff Sgt. Kaily Brown) #
Chelsay Kurtz weeps with her daughter Chsaige, 3, while sitting by the name of her husband's friend, Cpl. Taylor Baune, who was killed in Afghanistan, during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Mount Soledad Veteran's Memorial in La Jolla, California, on May 27, 2013. The ceremony honored Glen A. Doherty and Tyrone Woods, who were Navy Seals and were killed during the attacks on the U.S. Diplomatic Compound in Benghazi on September 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Sandy Huffaker) #
Afghan school children walk home after classes at an open-air classroom on the outskirts of Mihtarlam in Laghman province on May 25, 2013. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images) #
An artist paints graffiti on a wall during the Sound Central music festival in Kabul, on May 1, 2013. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani) #
Afghan drug addict, Abdul Rahman, 44, exhales after smoking opium as his children watch him at his home in Laghman province, on May 21, 2013. The number of Afghan heroin addicts has tripled to 150,000, according to the United Nations, with 230,000 people using opium in 2012. (Waseem Nikzad/AFP/Getty Images) #
An Afghan boy flies his kite on a hill overlooking Kabul, on May 13, 2013. Banned during the Taliban regime, kite flying is once again the main recreational escape for Afghan boys and some men. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) #
An Afghan National Army soldier returns from a patrol through local villages of Hesarak, Nangarhar province, on May 17, 2013.(U.S. Army/Spc. Vang Seng Thao) #
Afghans look at shoes that remain at the scene after a vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the Alingar district of Laghman province, east of Kabul, on June 03, 2013. A statement from the provincial government said a group of four women and two children had gone with a male driver into the hills to collect firewood. On their way back, their vehicle hit the mine and all inside were killed.(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) #
A girl stands next to soldiers in Eindhoven, on May 6, 2013. Over 80 Dutch soldiers left for Afghanistan from the Eindhoven Airport to replace the current F-16 detachment. (Robin Van Lonkhuijsen/AFP/Getty Images) #
Soldiers from the Afghan National Army stand at the entrance of an old palace at ANA Forward Operating Base Muqor in Ghazni province, on May 28, 2013. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images) #
Afghan security forces stand over the dead bodies of insurgents after a suicide attack in Bazarak district, Panjshir province, on May 29, 2013. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images) #
An Afghan defense serviceman inspects the bloodied walls and severed limbs and head of an insurgent lying amid debris following a suicide attack in Bazarak district, Panjshir province, on May 29, 2013. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images) #
An Afghan firefighter works inside the charred interior of the provincial governor's office following a suicide attack in Bazarak district, on May 29, 2013. Afghan security forces killed six suicide bombers who attacked the Panjshir provincial governor's office early on May 29, officials said, in an assault on one the the most stable areas of the country.
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