In a statement released today the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, confirmed that Prince Harry is fighting with his regiment in Afghanistan.

He was deployed three months ago, but in order to reduce the risk for the prince and his men, the news was not reported under a pool agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the British media, including the foreign news organizations operating in UK .

However, the news was disclosed by an Australian magazine and by a German newspaper and finally it was picked up by the US Web site, the Drudge Report.

“I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run the story without consulting us”, General Sir Richard Dannatt said.

"The British media have shown great restraint in not reporting his deployment and I would like to thank them for doing so. It is however a great pity that the news has now been broken by media overseas”, he added.

Prince Harry, the second son of Prince Charles and his first wife, the late princess Diana, has graduated from Sandhurst military academy in 2006 as a tank commander. However, after the Ministry of Defense decided to no send him in Iraq, he retrained as the commander of the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) in charge of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battlegroup Forward Air Controllers (FAC).

According to the UK’s Ministry of Defense, in Afghanistan he is responsible for the logistical resupply of the Battlegroup by air, surveillance of the area by both manned and unmanned aircraft and protection tasks, which includes controlling aircraft onto their targets.

"His conduct on operations in Afghanistan has been exemplary," said Dannatt, who had opposed Harry's deployment to Iraq. "He has been fully involved in operations and has run the same risks as everyone else in his battlegroup."

The decision to deploy Prince Harry to Afghanistan was taken after a detailed analysis of the risks involved. He was send 10 weeks ago in the southern province of Helmand, where the majority of the 7,800 British soldiers in Afghanistan are based.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Prince Harry flew out to Afghanistan on December 14 and had been due to complete a four-month tour without the standard two-week rest and recreation break. He is the first senior member to fight in a conflict since 1982, when Prince Andrew served in the Falklands war.

In a statement released today in London, Paddy Harveson, Harry's spokesman, said in a that the prince is “very proud to serve his country on operations alongside his fellow soldiers and to do the job he has been trained for.”

The Ministry Of Defense said that once the story came into the public domain, the operational chain of command has reassessed the situation and it should decide wether his deployment can continue.

In a statement released in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to Prince Harry's service in Afghanistan.

"As Sir Richard Dannatt has said, Prince Harry has been an exemplary soldier and is serving with dedication in the finest traditions of our Armed Forces.  The whole of Britain will be proud of the outstanding service he is giving”, Brown said.