A senior Taliban official hit out at Britain's Prince Harry on Friday over part of his book where he says killing 25 Taliban while on a mission in Afghanistan was like knocking out 'chess pieces' on a chessboard .

• To read also: William and Harry: reconciliation seems impossible between the brothers who have become enemies

• Read also: In the United Kingdom, Prince Harry accused of wanting to destroy the royal family

• Read also: Our love-hate relationship with the monarchy

Prince Harry, in a book to be published next week, reveals the exact number of people he killed during his two missions in Afghanistan.

"My number is 25. It's not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but I'm not ashamed of it either," wrote the prince in his book, the Spanish version of which went on sale a few hours Thursday. before being removed.

He says he viewed these people as “chess pieces” removed from the game, as his training intended, because it is impossible to kill a target “if you consider it a person”.

"Mr. Harry! Those you killed were not chess pieces, they were human beings” who had families, senior Taliban leader Anas Haqqani said on Friday, accusing the prince of “war crimes”.

"But the truth is what you say: our innocent people were like chess pieces for your soldiers and for your military and political leaders," he added. “But despite everything, you lost at this game”.

Harry served 10 years in the British Army, ending his career as a captain.

He was sent to Afghanistan twice, first in 2007 and 2008, during which he was responsible for coordinating air attacks, then again in 2012 and 2013 as a helicopter gunship pilot.

Cameras mounted on the front of the helicopter made it possible to judge the success of the missions, and also to determine precisely how many people he had killed.

He justified his actions by the September 11 attacks in the United States, believing that the enemies he was fighting in Afghanistan were those who had committed a crime against humanity.

The prince has since, on several occasions, expressed his concern for his safety.