Taliban soldiers have Prince Harry in sights

(Getty Images)

Senior Taliban commanders have reacted with glee at having the opportunity to target Prince Harry while he is deployed in Afghanistan, saying they will make killing or kidnapping him a priority.

The third-in-line to the throne, who arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to begin his four-month mission flying Apache helicopters, was the subject to a media blackout during his previous posting to the country in 2007.

That was to avoid the Prince's life being put at increased risk by insurgents aiming to assassinate him for a propaganda coup – but, with the Prince's renewed operations being a high-profile story this time around, the threats have come quickly.

"It's good news for us as we are always in search for such precious birds," Maulvi Ahmadullah Ahmadyar told Channel 4 News via telephone from Helmand province.

"Our priority will be to kidnap him at any cost as we have our informers at the military base being used by the British troops here in Helmand."

He added they would also "like to eliminate him through our Afghan friends working with British troops".

Another Taliban commander, Mullah Burjan, said he will aim to shoot down Apache gunships and "will love to hit his chopper".

Though several Apache helicopters have crashed in Afghanistan, so far none has been shot down by Taliban fire, indicating the greatest threats to Prince Harry may well come from Afghan turncoats.