A former marine whose charity aims to expatriate animals from Afghanistan claims he has been evacuated from Kabul amid fears Prince Harry’s confession of killing 25 Taliban members could invite “reprisal attacks”.
The Duke of Sussex said in his forthcoming memoir Spare that the killings were like “chess pieces removed from the board”, and that those who had died were “bad people eliminated before they could kill good people”.
“My number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,” he wrote.
Now Pen Farthing, who has been working in the country for some 18 months to get animals from shelters out of Afghanistan, has hit out at the duke’s “badly advised” book.
Tweeting last night, Mr Farthing told his followers of the alleged evacuation from his base.
“To the idiots who made dumbass comments in support of #PrinceHarry in my tweet, know I have had to evac from #Kabul tonight in case of potential reprisal attacks on ex-forces people like me in the wake of his badly judged memoir.. the animals suffer not me. You happy?” he wrote.
It came after Mr Farthing had earlier tweeted: “Well I was a Royalist until today…. Cheers #PrinceHarry You have been very badly advised I would probably say. And glad you thought through the security implications of those of us still out in #Afghanistan trying to bring about some good. #idiot #notmyprince.”
Prince Harry’s remarks over his time in Afghanistan have been met with widespread criticism from members of the British military, with some warning that the duke has risked his own security and made himself a target.
The Taliban also issued a statement condemning the royal, with its commander Molavi Agha Gol calling him a “big mouth loser”.
Mr Farthing made headlines last year for his public campaign, nicknamed Operation Ark, to evacuate his staff and their families, and the rescue animals in the care of his charity Nowzad.
The charity operated an animal clinic, dog and cat shelter and donkey sanctuary in Afghanistan. It chartered a plane to evacuate the animals and staff from Kabul during the UK evacuation but ended up in a war of words with defence secretary Ben Wallace over whether it was allowed to land at the airport.
