Prince Harry urges Afghanistan veterans to support each other

Harry served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and still works with wounded soldiers

Prince Harry spoke out to veterans of the war in Afghanistan and the wider military community. Reuters

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Prince Harry has encouraged Afghanistan veterans to “support one another” as the Taliban completes its takeover of the country.

Harry is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, having served two tours of duty during his 10 years in the army.

After his military service, he founded the Invictus Games, a sporting event for wounded former military personnel.

The Taliban have swept through Afghanistan last week and arrived in Kabul on Sunday, declaring that the “war is over” as countries worked to move their citizens to safety.

Harry, in a joint statement issued with Invictus chairman Lord Allen and chief executive Dominic Reid, addressed veterans concerned by the fall of Afghanistan to the insurgents they fought against.

“What’s happening in Afghanistan resonates across the international Invictus community,” Harry said.

“Many of the participating nations and competitors in the Invictus Games family are bound by a shared experience of serving in Afghanistan over the past two decades, and for several years we have competed alongside Invictus Games Team Afghanistan.

Britain's Prince Harry sits in his cockpit as he prepares for a mission, at the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion, southern Afghanistan in 2012.

Prince Harry performs pre-flight checks of his Apache helicopter. He is serving as a pilot/gunner with 662 Squadron Army Air Corp.

Prince Harry attends a mission briefing in the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion.

Prince Harry watching the return from a mission of an Apache Helicopter.

Prince Harry or just plain Captain Wales as he is known in the British Army, showing a TV crew his sleeping area and bed at the VHR (very high readiness) tent close.

Prince Harry ended his five-month deployment in Afghanistan on 21 January 2013 with an admission during a BBC interview that he shot at Taliban insurgents as a co-pilot gunner in an Apache attack helicopter.

Prince Harry, wears his monocle gun sight as he sits in the front seat of his cockpit.

“We encourage everybody across the Invictus network – and the wider military community – to reach out to each other and offer support for one another.”

The Invictus Games has been postponed for two years running because of coronavirus restrictions, and the next competition is scheduled for The Hague, in the Netherlands, next year.

Despite his public falling out with the UK royal family, he has continued to work with Invictus.

Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, emigrated to the US and agreed to a TV interview with US megastar Oprah to detail how the family rift happened.

They said a member of the royal family had made racist remarks and that intense pressure was placed on Ms Markle.

Harry continues to support his fellow servicemen, promoting support for wounded men and women as they adapt to life post-injury.

He was commissioned as an army officer in 2006 when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, took the salute.

Harry served with the British Army in Helmand province, Afghanistan, for more than two months in 2007-2008. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment from 2012 to 2013.