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Sgt Bowe Bergdahl has told people treating him at a US military medical facility in Germany that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape, a senior US official said yesterday.

The US soldier released by the Taliban after five years has told military officials that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape.

Potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton writes in her new book that she raised concerns about a swap of Taliban prisoners when she was President Barack Obama’s secretary of state and disagreed with his decision not to arm Syrian rebels.

Bowe Bergdahl’s home town has abruptly cancelled plans for a welcome back celebration amid security fears over the prospect of big crowds – for and against the US soldier freed by the Taliban in a prisoner-swap deal.

The Taliban released a video showing Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl being handed over to US forces and bundled into a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan.

A Pentagon investigation concluded in 2010 that Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his unit, and after an initial flurry of searching the military decided not to exert extraordinary efforts to rescue him, according to a former senior defence official.

Nearly five years after his capture by insurgents, Sgt Bowe Bergdahl’s "safety and health were both in jeopardy" and officials had to act quickly to obtain his release, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday.

The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed and is in US custody, according to US officials.

US officials have received a new video of captured Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl they believe was taken within the last month, showing that the soldier is alive.

The Afghan Taliban has said it is ready to hand over a US soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of its senior operatives being held at Guantanamo Bay.

The Afghan Taliban say they have reached a preliminary deal with the Gulf state of Qatar to open a liaison office there that could have a key role in peace talks to end more than a decade of war.

A Nato service member has gone missing in south Afghanistan, sparking a search operation.

One of two US sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a Nato spokesman said today.

Two US Navy service members disappeared in a dangerous area of eastern Afghanistan, prompting a massive search and appeals for their safe return, Nato and Afghan officials said today.

Video of an American soldier captured in Afghanistan last June, showing him pleading for his freedom, was released by the Taliban today.

The Taliban released a video today showing a US soldier who was captured more than five months ago in eastern Afghanistan.

The Taliban released a video today purporting to show a US soldier who was captured more than five months ago in eastern Afghanistan.