Prince Harry: Killing Taliban a job 'you would expect to do'

Prince Harry arrived back in the UK after his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Credit: PA Wire

Prince Harry said killing the Taliban is a job "you would expect to do" as a soldier as he arrived back in the UK after his 20-week tour of duty to Afghanistan.

The 28-year-old Apache co-pilot gunner made headlines after he said his role required him to kill Taliban insurgents and opening fire was necessary to protect allied troops and the Afghan people.

Harry has been criticised by some for his frank comments that he took the enemy "out of the game", and soldiers "take a life to save a life".

Speaking to the press at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, he said:

Royal Correspondent Tim Ewart reports on Prince Harry's return to the UK:

The prince left the war-torn country on Monday evening, and has been on post-deployment "decompression" at a British military base in Cyprus.

He flew from Akrotiri on board a regular personnel aircraft - an Airbus A330 Voyager - and landed at the Oxfordshire base with his 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, at around 4.45pm.

Prince Harry wears his monocle gun sight as he sits in the front seat of his cockpit. Credit: PA Wire

Harry did not go with the rest of his squadron to their headquarters in Wattisham in Suffolk.

St James's Palace said he left Brize Norton privately, but did not comment on where he was headed.