Taliban Attacks Prince Harry's Afghani Base to Retaliate Against Anti-Islam Film (Report)

LONDON - The Taliban said it attacked a NATO military base in Afghanistan this weekend where Britain's Prince Harry is deployed to retaliate against anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims.

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The BBC said a spokesman for the militant Islamist group described the attack as coming in response to the film, but emphasized that the base itself was selected to target the royal.

"There are many other foreign bases … but we stormed this one because of Prince Harry's presence there," the BBC quoted him as saying.

Smaller arms, rockets and other weapons were used to attack the perimeter of the British base, which also houses troops from several other countries, according to the BBC.

The report said that the prince, who turned 28 this weekend and is in Afghanistan for four months on his second tour of duty, was never in any real danger. He is serving as an Apache helicopter pilot at the British-run camp.

The Telegraph reported that the Taliban fighters wore U.S. Army uniforms in the attack on Prince Harry's base. 

It also cited a senior British army officer as saying that the attack was mainly designed to draw global press coverage. "They are masters of propaganda," he said about the Taliban.

British tabloid The Sun, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., said in a headline on its web site Sunday that "Harry's staying put...he won't run from the Taliban."

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai