Prince Harry was at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan during an assault by the Taliban which killed two US marines.
American officials said small arms, rockets and mortars were used to attack the perimeter of the British base, home to troops from several countries.
The Taliban said it was a response to an amateur US-made film mocking Islam and later claimed the base was chosen because Harry was there.
It is extremely heavily fortified and questions will be asked about how militants were able to stage the surprise assault, our correspondent added.
The attack comes a few days after Defence Secretary Philip Hammond visited troops there.
Sayed Malook, a commander in the Afghan National Army said the evening attack, which involved up to 20 Taliban fighters and lasted four hours, began with a suicide bomb blast that breached the base wall.
An International Security Assistance Force spokesman said that 18 Taliban fighters had been killed and one captured.
Nato told Reuters news agency that the prince "was never in any danger".
"One of the motivations could be the presence of Prince Harry in that camp, because the Taliban some days ago warned that they would target and kill Prince Harry," he said.
Prince Harry is the first member of the Royal Family to see active combat since his uncle Prince Andrew fought in the Falklands War.
Prince Harry, who is marking his 28th birthday, is in Afghanistan for four months on his second tour of duty.
No comments:
Post a Comment