Prince Harry escapes attack-India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Prince Harry was only 400 yards away when the Taliban attacked the UK’s military base in Afghanistan. As the insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades stormed Camp Bastion in Helmand province, Prince Harry was rushed to safety by his armed bodyguards to a protected area. But despite being so close to the intense three-hour fire-fight, which left two American Marines dead, four British airmen seriously wounded and several aircraft ablaze, the Prince told his commanding officers he was ‘staying put’. According to the Daily Mail, he told his superiors that he was ‘fine’ and was determined to carry out his duties as an Apache helicopter pilot. As well as apparently targeting the Prince, a Taliban spokesman also indicated the raid was a response to an anti-Muslim film made in the United States, which has caused outbreaks of violence across the Middle East. Military sources said the attack must have been planned days, if not weeks, in advance in order to gain access to the heavily fortified base and get to ‘within 400 yards’ of Harry. The insurgents are believed to have studied Camp Bastion beforehand and passed unnoticed through vehicle checkpoints before recovering a cache of weapons hidden in the desert, the rpeort said. According to the report, at about 10 p.m. on Friday, 16 fighters dug beneath a perimeter fence on the camp’s eastern side and ran towards the airfield, where they were challenged by U.S. Marines. They fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, killing the two Marines and destroying aircraft, including Harrier jets and Cobra helicopters, the report said. According to NATO coalition chiefs, 15 Taliban insurgents were shot dead. The remaining insurgent was wounded and taken to hospital at Camp Bastion where he remains under armed guard.

Harry was just 400 yards away when Taliban attacked UK Afghan military base