Britain today accused the Taliban of exploiting for political gain a deadly attack on the heavily fortified airfield in Afghanistan where Prince Harry is deployed.
An official for the militant group told Sky News that the prince, known in the army as Captain Wales, was the “prime target” of the attack on Camp Bastion in the southern Helmand province which killed two US Marines.
But another Taliban official earlier told AFP that the attack “had nothing to do with the prince”, and was in
response to a film deemed offensive to Islam, raising accusations that it had changed its story to gain political
capital.
After saying this attack was mounted in reaction to the video on Islam, it is entirely predictable that the Taliban have changed their tune to say it was aimed at Captain Wales,” a British Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said today.
The ministry explained that the attackers got “nowhere near” the third in line to the British throne as he was in
lockdown with other soldiers at the base.
However, the MoD reiterated that the prince’s presence in Afghanistan was constantly being considered.
“As we stated last week, the deployment of Captain Wales has been long planned and the threat to him and others around him thoroughly assessed.
“We stated that any risk posed by his deployment, based on the capability, opportunity and intent of the insurgency, is continually reviewed,” added the spokesman.
Taliban armed with guns and rockets stormed the airfield late Friday, killing two US Marines and attacking aircraft in a major security breach.
———————(AFP)