Missing US Soldier Freed By Taliban After 5 Years
31 May, 2014
The last U.S. prisoner of war from America’s waning war in Afghanistan was handed over to U.S. Special Operations forces on Saturday, in a dramatic swap for five Taliban detainees who were released from Guantanamo Bay prison and flown to Qatar.
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had been held for nearly five years by Afghan militants and his release followed years of on-and-off negotiations.
President Barack Obama hailed the release in a brief appearance with Bergdahl’s parents, Bob and Jani, in the White House Rose Garden, saying that “while Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten.”
Bergdahl was on his way to an American military hospital in Germany, a U.S. defense official said. Another defense official said it was expected that after treatment in Germany he would be transferred to a military medical facility in San Antonio, Texas.
U.S. special forces took custody of Bergdahl in a non-violent exchange with 18 Taliban members in eastern Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, adding that he was believed to be in good condition. Before leaving for Germany, he received medical care at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.
He was captured under unknown circumstances in eastern Afghanistan by militants on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in the country.
Bergdahl, 28, was handed over about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday.
Hours later, a second U.S. defense official said the five Taliban detainees, now formally in Qatari custody, had departed the Guantanamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects.
Reuters
Image AP
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