Harry pulls out of Afghanistan as Taliban threatens to take revenge for 'Royal aggression'

Prince Harry was tonight preparing to pull out of Afghanistan as the Taliban threatened more attacks in the face of what it has described as "aggression against Muslims".

According to a Taliban spokesman, the prince's presence in Helmand province is a direct sign of the British Royal Family's stance against Muslims and warned it would merely encourage further insurgent attacks against British soldiers.

There are also fears that Prince Harry will be targeted by Islamic jihadists when he returns to Britain and he has been warned to stay away from his favourite London nightclubs.

He could be back home as early as tomorrow following the decision by military chiefs to withdraw him from the front line immediately. But sources say they fear he could now become the “number one target” for terrorist cells in Britain, having spent 10 weeks fighting the Taliban.

He is expected to be ordered back to the Household Cavalry barracks at Windsor and to keep a low profile over the coming weeks even though in an interview in Afghanistan he declared: “I don't want to sit around in Windsor.”

The prince faces being banned from his favourite nightclubs including Boujis, Amika and Mahiki while security is stepped up to the highest level around him. Late nights at the clubs were a fixture in his social life before his deployment but are now seen by senior officers in Scotland Yard as too high risk.

Military chiefs are now making final preparations to remove the prince from the front line and fly him back to Britain. In its statement the MoD said the decision to remove Harry from the battlefield was taken not just for his own safety but for the safety of the soldiers that serve alongside the prince.

The Prince's deployment had been cloaked in secrecy under a news blackout deal agreed across the UK media to prevent details reaching the Taliban and endangering Harry and his comrades. But the arrangement broke down last night after the news was leaked out on the US website the Drudge Report.