Taliban Frees U.S. Soldier in Exchange for Afghan Detainees

The Taliban released the sole American soldier being held captive on Saturday to a team of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a member of Special Operations forces, spent nearly five years in captivity.

His release was secured after the administration, working through Qatari government intermediaries, agreed to free five Afghan inmates held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The senior Taliban commanders were loaded onto a U.S. military aircraft bound for Qatar after U.S. officials got confirmation that Bergdahl had been freed.

“He wasn’t forgotten by his country,” President Obama said Saturday evening in the Rose Garden, referring to Bergdahl, and standing alongside his parents. “The United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.” (The Washington Post, 1 June)

File photo: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, was freed Saturday in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees at Guantanamo Bay. (Wikipedia photo)