Taliban video shows GI's release

Not aware of U.S. deaths in Bergdahl search, Hagel says

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (right) stands with a Taliban fighter, in this video released by the Taliban, as they wait Saturday in eastern Afghanistan for U.S. special forces to fly in and pick up Bergdahl as part of a swap for five Afghan detainees.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (right) stands with a Taliban fighter, in this video released by the Taliban, as they wait Saturday in eastern Afghanistan for U.S. special forces to fly in and pick up Bergdahl as part of a swap for five Afghan detainees.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A video released by the Taliban on Wednesday documented the moment U.S. special-forces personnel received Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban fighters. It includes the first images of Bergdahl seen in many months and offers a rare glimpse into the insurgency's operations.

In the video, Bergdahl can be seen wearing traditional Afghan clothes, his head shaven and his face strained. He is first seen waiting in a silver pickup while militants wait for an American Black Hawk helicopter to land. He is then led by two militants to special-forces operatives in civilian clothes after they dismount from the helicopter.

Bergdahl was released Saturday in exchange for five Afghan detainees held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Their faces flash across the screen in the new video.

Throughout the clip, a man referred to as an "eyewitness mujahedeen" explains what happened during the Bergdahl release. Another man holds a white flag. Many others stand armed in the distance.

The Black Hawk appears to be on the ground for about one minute, during which time Bergdahl is escorted away from his captors. The American service members pat Bergdahl down, checking for explosives, before helping him into the helicopter.

According to the Taliban video, the release took place in a district of Khost province called Alisher. Khost is considered a stronghold of the Haqqani network, the insurgent group believed to have held Bergdahl.

"We have no reason to doubt the video's authenticity, but we are reviewing it. Regardless, we know the transfer was peaceful and successful, and our focus remains on getting Sgt. Bergdahl the care he needs," Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.

The same video also includes footage of the Taliban detainees upon their arrival in Qatar. They are seen embracing other members of the organization who have been based in Doha for more than a year as part of the Taliban's diplomatic office.

The newly released detainees are to be kept in Qatar for 12 months as part of the agreement among the United States, the Taliban and Qatar.

In a news conference Wednesday in Brussels, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was asked whether any U.S. service member was killed in the search for Bergdahl, who is believed to have slipped away from his platoon's small outpost in Afghanistan's Paktika province on June 30, 2009, after growing disillusioned with the U.S. military's war effort.

He was quickly captured by enemy forces and spirited across the border into Pakistan, where he was held captive by insurgents affiliated with the Taliban. At the time, some U.S. troops resented risking their lives for someone they considered a deserter.

"I do not know of specific circumstances or details of U.S. soldiers dying as a result of efforts to find and rescue Sgt. Bergdahl," Hagel said after attending a NATO defense ministers' meeting. "I am not aware of those specific details or any facts regarding that issue."

He said the Army "will conduct a comprehensive review of all the circumstances regarding Sgt. Bergdahl's disappearance ... but let's first focus on getting Sgt. Bergdahl well, getting his health back ... reuniting him with his family."

Hagel added: "Let's not forget, Sgt. Bergdahl is a member of the United States armed forces. ... Other questions will be dealt with at a later time."

After his release, Bergdahl was flown to the U.S. military's medical center in Landstuhl, Germany, where he is "still receiving care," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Wednesday aboard Air Force One.

As a debate grew in the United States over the prisoner exchange that led to Bergdahl's release, Afghans saw the hand-over through different lenses. To government-appointed peace negotiators, it meant a better chance at reconciliation with the Taliban. To Afghan military officials, it was a coup for the enemy.

But to Afghans living in the village where Bergdahl walked off the U.S. military outpost in 2009, it was another chapter in a perplexing American saga. Residents of Yusef Khel still remember the morning five years ago when a blank-faced U.S. soldier stumbled through their village.

"It was very confusing to us. Why would he leave the base?" said Jamal, an elder in the village who like many Afghans goes by only one name. "The people thought it was a covert agenda -- maybe he was sent to the village by the U.S."

Locals remember Bergdahl walking through the village in a haze. They later told Afghan investigators that they warned Bergdahl he was walking into a dangerous area.

"They tried to tell him not to go there, that it is dangerous. But he kept going over the mountain. The villagers tried to give him water and bread, but he didn't take it," said Ibrahim Manikhel, the district's intelligence chief.

"Why would an American want to find the Taliban?" Manikhel asked.

A Section on 06/05/2014

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