The Nato mission in Afghanistan has confirmed that a man featured in a new Taliban video is a missing American soldier.
The footage, released on Friday, showed US soldier Bowe Bergdahl in good health some five months after he was taken prisoner in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province.
An airborne infantryman, Bergdahl gives his rank, birth date, unit and mother's maiden name before beginning a lengthy verbal attack on the US conduct of the war in Afghanistan and its relations with Muslims.
The US military had no immediate comment, though IntelCenter - an American contractor that tracks Taliban propaganda and works with the intelligence community and the military - said it had no reason to doubt the veracity of the footage.
IntelCenter said the quality of the 36-minute video was good and has an English-language narration in parts. It also showed images of prisoners in US custody being abused.
A statement read by Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, appears at the end of the video and renews demands for a "limited number of prisoners" to be exchanged for Bergdahl. The statement adds that more American troops could be captured.
Five month mission
Bergdahl, who was serving with a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, was 23 when he vanished just five months after arriving in Afghanistan.
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| Bergdahl was captured in Paktika just five months after arriving in Afghanistan [AFP] |
He was serving at a base in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.
On Friday, Nato said a joint Afghan-international force killed several Taliban fighters in Paktika while searching for a commander of the Jalaluddin Haqqani network that they link to al-Qaeda.
US military teams have searched for Bergdahl, but it is not publicly known whether he is even being held in Afghanistan or neighbouring Pakistan.