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Prince Harry On Killing Taliban: 'Take A Life To Save A Life'

Prince Harry, known when on duty as "Capt. Wales," in the cockpit of an Apache helicopter while he was in Afghanistan last month.
John Stillwell/PA wire/pool
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EPA /Landov
Prince Harry, known when on duty as "Capt. Wales," in the cockpit of an Apache helicopter while he was in Afghanistan last month.
Larry Miller reports for the NPR Newscast

"We fire when we have to," and sometimes that means you "take a life to save a life."

That's one of the comments circulating today from Britain's Prince Harry, who talked in recent months — for interviews now being posted — about his second tour of duty with the British Army in Afghanistan. It's seen as confirmation, correspondent Larry Miller tells our Newscast Desk from London, of earlier reports that the prince had been involved in the use of lethal force during his time with combat troops there.

The Associated Press notes that in another interview, the prince was slightly more direct:

"When asked whether he had killed from the cockpit, he said: 'Yea, so lots of people have.' "

The 28-year-old prince just ended a four-month tour as a co-pilot/gunner on an army helicopter, the U.K's defense ministry announced late Monday.

Now that "Capt. Wales," as he's known while on duty, is out of the war zone, news outlets that interviewed him while he was at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan are releasing their video reports. They were given access to the prince in return for promises to hold off on reporting until he was gone so as not to put either the prince or his comrades in more danger.

ITN News touts the "dramatic moment" in its video that comes when Harry has to cut short the conversation and run for his helicopter. The Guardian's video shows Harry, wearing a Santa hat, giving a tour of his living quarters.

The prince also talks about his nude romp last summer in Las Vegas, saying "I let my family down," as CNN reports.

And he explains how he's mastered the art of peeing while flying. Yes, that too was covered during the interviews.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.