LONDON -- Britain's Ministry of Defense says Prince Harry is returning from a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps.

The 28-year-old prince was stationed at Camp Bastion, a sprawling British base in the southern Afghan desert. Known as Capt. Wales in the military, Harry flew scores of missions as a co-pilot gunner, sometimes firing rockets and missiles at Taliban fighters.

Harry's second tour in Afghanistan went more smoothly than the first, in 2007-2008, which was cut short after 10 weeks when a magazine and websites disclosed details of his whereabouts.

British media had agreed to a news blackout on security grounds.

Associated Press