Taliban Releases Video of Captured US Soldier

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The Taliban has released a 28-minute video showing a US soldier reportedly captured by the hard-line Islamist group in Afghanistan last month, officials and witnesses said Sunday.

The clip released over the weekend shows a Western male -- purportedly a US soldier who went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30 -- sitting cross-legged on the floor wearing a traditional Afghan outfit.

The shaven-headed young man, who sports a small beard and appears nervous and frightened, answers questions in English while drinking green tea.

Although the Pentagon has not released the identity of the missing soldier, a US military spokesman in Kabul confirmed that the man appearing in the video is the soldier who went missing late last month.

"I was captured outside of the base camp. I was behind a patrol, lagging behind the patrol and I was captured," the soldier tells an unseen questioner.

Asked about the US-led invasion that toppled the hardline Taliban government in 2001, the man replies: "Since I've been here and I've seen how these people live and function, we have indeed invaded an independent state."

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Sunday confirmed that an American soldier who went missing from his base in Afghanistan has been captured and identified him as a private from Idaho serving with an Alaska-based infantry regiment.

The Defense Department released the name of Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho, one day after he was seen in a video posted online as saying he was "scared I won't be able to go home."

Even before his name became public, two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in that 28-minute video was the captured soldier. The video provided the first public glimpse of the American.

KABUL (Reuters) – The U.S. military denounced on Sunday the release of a video showing a soldier captured in Afghanistan, calling the images Taliban propaganda that violated international law.

The video shows the soldier in traditional Afghan dress, being prompted in English by his captors to call for U.S. forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

"The use of the soldier for propaganda purposes we view as against international law," military spokesman Captain Jon Stock said, confirming that the man in the video was the missing soldier, whose name has not been released.

"We are continuing to do whatever possible to recover the soldier safe and unharmed."

The U.S. military has been distributing leaflets this week seeking the release of the soldier, missing since late June.

The Taliban have released a video with the American soldier who went missing in Eastern Afghanistan on June 30, and was later confirmed captured, AP reports.

The soldiers, whose identity has not been released, was shown on a video posted to a Web site, and the AP has confirmed his identity with two U.S. defense officials.

According to the report, he is the first service member to be captured in Afghanistan since a Navy SEAL fell out of a helicopter in March 2002, and was then killed by al Qaeda. (7:52 p.m.)