Taliban video shows handover of U.S. soldier

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban released a video Wednesday showing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl being handed over to U.S. forces and bundled into a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan, touting the swap of the abducted American soldier for five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo as a significant achievement for the insurgents.

The exchange and still-murky circumstances of how Bergdahl came to be captured by the Taliban nearly five years ago have prompted a fierce debate in Washington after the five freed Taliban were flown to Qatar, a tiny Gulf Arab country that served as a mediator between the two sides.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the Army will review the case, insisting it is unfair to Bergdahl’s family to make assumptions before that is done.

The 17-minute video, which was emailed to media organizations, shows Bergdahl in traditional Afghan clothing, the white shalwar kameez, clean-shaven and sitting in a white pickup truck. More than a dozen Taliban fighters with machine guns, their faces mostly covered by headscarves, stand around the truck and on a rocky desert hillside overlooking the site.

Bergdahl blinks frequently as he looks out of the truck and appears to be listening as one of his captors speaks to him. At one point, he wipes his left upper eyelid as if to get rid of some dust.

Since his release, the 28-year-old from Hailey, Idaho, was reported to be in stable condition at a military hospital in Germany.

A Black Hawk helicopter then lands and two Taliban fighters, one carrying a white piece of cloth tied to a stick of wood, lead Bergdahl, now wearing a gray shawl around his shoulders, half way toward the helicopter, a few hundred yards away.

Bergdahl is then greeted and taken by three Western-looking men in civilian clothes to the helicopter, where soldiers in Army uniforms are waiting. Before he climbs in, one of the three men pats down Bergdahl in a quick search, possibly looking for explosives, then soldiers help him board the helicopter.

According to a voiceover in the video, the handover took place around 4 p.m. on Saturday in the area of Bati in Ali Sher district of eastern Khost province, near the Pakistani border. As the helicopter approaches, one of the Taliban men gets closer to Bergdahl and is heard speaking in Pashto, one of the two main Afghan languages.

“Don’t come back to Afghanistan,” the man tells Bergdahl. “You won’t make it out alive next time,” he adds as some of the others are heard laughing. The same words appear over the video in English, with misspellings.

Just before the helicopter lands, some of the Taliban near the pickup shout: “Long life to Mujahedeen,” or holy warriors as the Taliban call themselves.

A Taliban statement, also distributed to media, quoted their leader Mullah Mohammad Omar as describing the release of the five Taliban officials from Guantanamo as a significant achievement for the movement. The Taliban had announced the exchange with “great happiness and joy” and said they were seeking the release of additional prisoners, though they provided no specifics.

U.S. Defense Department press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said the Pentagon was reviewing the video even though it had no reason to doubt its authenticity.

“Regardless, we know the transfer was peaceful and successful, and our focus remains on getting Sgt. Bergdahl the care he needs,” Kirby said Wednesday.

The release of the five Taliban was conditioned on assurances from officials in Qatar, where they will have to stay for one year, that they will track them and allow the U.S. to monitor them. The five were among the most senior Afghans still held at Guantanamo.

But even as Bergdahl’s hometown celebrates his release, the Army is contemplating pursuing an investigation that could lead to desertion or other charges against him.

The Pentagon concluded in 2010 that Bergdahl had walked away from his unit before he was captured by the Taliban. Members of Bergdahl’s unit and military officials have complained that his decision to leave his base unarmed put his fellow soldiers in danger and that some were killed in missions that included looking for him.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry has criticized the swap, saying it was “against the norms of international law” if it came against the five imprisoned Taliban detainees’ will. It also criticized the restrictions put on the five Taliban officials freedom of movement in Qatar.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.