Story highlights Britain's Prince Harry says he killed Taliban militants during tour in Afghanistan

Harry, known to comrades as Captain Wales, had served for four months in Helmand province

Harry: "We fire when we have to but we're more of a deterrent than anything else"

Britain's Prince Harry has acknowledged that he killed Taliban insurgents on his latest tour of duty in Afghanistan as a crew member of an Apache attack helicopter.

Harry has been serving for four months as a co-pilot gunner (CPG) in southern Helmand province -- considered a Taliban heartland -- and flew on scores of missions with the trigger to rockets, missiles and a 30mm cannon at his fingertips.

No one is saying how many insurgents Harry might have killed but toward the end of his deployment, the 28-year-old, known to his comrades as Captain Wales, shared some of his feelings about combat with reporters while on duty in the massive military base known as Camp Bastion. He said it was sometimes justified to "take a life to save a life. That's what we revolve around, I suppose."

Harry explained how the roles of Apaches and CPGs have changed since his previous deployments in 2007 and 2008. "It used to be very much: front seat, you're firing the whole time.

Photos: Prince Harry through the years Photos: Prince Harry through the years Britain's Prince Harry smiles as he attends a ceremony for the 2015 London Marathon. The engagement of the prince and American actress Meghan Markle was announced on Monday, November 27. Hide Caption 1 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Prince Charles and Princess Diana leave a London hospital with newborn baby Harry on September 16, 1984. It was their second son. Hide Caption 2 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry is held by his mother during this family photo with his dad and his brother, Prince William, in 1984. Hide Caption 3 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry, left, and William play on rocking horses at Kensington Palace. Hide Caption 4 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry sticks his tongue out, much to the surprise of his mother, at Buckingham Palace in 1988. Hide Caption 5 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Prince Charles and his sons pose outside a country house circa 1990. Hide Caption 6 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry, left, and William wave to the cameras during a 1991 tour of Canada. The caps were given to them by the crew of the Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa. Hide Caption 7 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Princess Diana and her sons visit Thorpe Park, a theme park in Surrey, England, in 1993. Hide Caption 8 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, offers Harry a reassuring arm during her funeral service in 1997. Hide Caption 9 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Prince Charles and his sons enjoy a ski holiday together in 2000. Hide Caption 10 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry takes part in the traditional Wall Game at Eton College in 2003. Hide Caption 11 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years In 2003, Harry stands between some artwork he completed while studying at Eton College. Hide Caption 12 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry holds an echidna at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in 2003. Hide Caption 13 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry takes part in a 2005 Trooping the Colour event with fellow cadets at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England. Hide Caption 14 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry, far left, joins a photo for his father's second marriage in 2005. After Harry, from left, are his brother; his father; his stepmother, Camilla; and Camilla's children, Laura and Tom Parker Bowles. Hide Caption 15 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry and Queen Elizabeth II share a joke on his father's wedding day. Hide Caption 16 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry takes part in military training in 2005. In February 2008, the British Ministry of Defense announced that Harry had secretly been serving in Afghanistan with his Army unit on a four-month mission. The next day, he was withdrawn for security reasons. Hide Caption 17 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry and his girlfriend at the time, Chelsy Davy, watch a rugby match in London in 2009. Hide Caption 18 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry joins Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 2012. Hide Caption 19 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry smiles after playing rugby at a beach in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Hide Caption 20 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry receives a royal salute from the honor guard at the Garden Island naval base in Sydney in 2013. Hide Caption 21 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry plays rugby with children as he takes part in a coaching session in London in 2013. Hide Caption 22 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry flies in the back of a Spitfire in this undated photo released in 2015. The flight was to promote his Spitfire scholarship, which offers training for wounded service members. Hide Caption 23 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry and his father attend a 2015 memorial service for the Battle of Gallipoli, a World War I campaign that took place a century earlier. Hide Caption 24 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry, William and Catherine take a photo with US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama after the Obamas arrived at Kensington Palace in 2016. Hide Caption 25 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry sits with Hayley Henson, left, and her daughter Emily during the Invictus Games in Toronto in September. Hayley is married to British paralympian David Henson, and young Emily was sneaking bites of the prince's popcorn. Harry founded the Invictus Games, an international sporting competition for injured service members. Hide Caption 26 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry watches wheelchair tennis with his girlfriend, Meghan Markle, at the Invictus Games in September. Hide Caption 27 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry smiles as he speaks to veterans in London in November. He was attending the official opening ceremony of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey. Hide Caption 28 of 29 Photos: Prince Harry through the years Harry and Markle take photos at Kensington Palace to announce their engagement. Hide Caption 29 of 29

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"Now, yes we fire when we have to but essentially we're more of a deterrent than anything else.

"Our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on the ground and if that means shooting someone who is shooting at them, then we will do it," said the prince, third in line to the British throne.

"It's not the reason I decided to do this job. The reason to do this job was to get back out here, and carry on with a job."

Away from his helicopter, the prince mixed freely on base, eating in the canteen with everyone else and relaxing by playing video games with others in the 130-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (AAC). With those comrades, he was just "one of the guys."

In contrast to his privileged upbringing in palaces and an education at Eton College, the prince lived in a shared room within shipping containers converted into an accommodation block. He said he was free to stroll around the base, to visit the gym or the laundry. "It's completely normal," Harry added.

But he said he still received unwanted attention in more public places. "For me it's not that normal because I go into the cookhouse and everyone has a good old gawp, and that's one thing that I dislike about being here," he said.

"Because there's plenty of guys in there that have never met me, therefore look at me as Prince Harry and not as Captain Wales, which is frustrating.

"Which is probably another reason why I'd love to be out in the PBs (patrol bases), away from it all.

"But yeah, it's completely normal. It's as normal as it's going to get. I'm one of the guys. I don't get treated any differently."

His deployment meant he could step back from the public eye, although he said his father, the heir to the British throne Prince Charles, often reminded him of his position. Harry admitted he had "let himself and his family down" when he was photographed naked at a party in a Las Vegas hotel last year.

He also expressed frustration about the media. Referring to the TV producer whom he was addressing, he said: "I never wanted you guys to be out here, but there was an agreement made to invite you out on the deal that the media didn't speculate before my deployment. That's the only reason you guys are out here."

Harry appeared happier talking about his military role: building up the Afghan National Army, the ANA, so it can eventually take over.

"It's great to see the ANA taking more of a lead in things as well. And the professionalism is definitely shining through."

That's something his superiors in the army might say of the prince himself.

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