bobdina
07-31-2009, 01:54 PM
Army says missing soldier not in Pakistan
By Gina Cavallaro
gcavallaro@militarytimes.com
While a massive search was underway for Pfc. Bowe Robert Bergdahl, the soldier who was captured by insurgents in Afghanistan, the military disputed reports he had been taken to Pakistan.
“Based on intelligence we have, we don’t understand him to have moved much beyond” the area of the search in Afghanistan, U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias told Army Times on July 22. “I had heard the Taliban claimed they had taken him [to Pakistan], but experience has proven here that rarely what the Taliban says is true.” The search for Bergdahl has covered four provinces in southeastern Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said no effort is being spared to find the soldier.
Bergdahl’s unit, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, launched a 15-6 investigation during the week of July 20 to establish the facts surrounding his disappearance. The military continues to keep under wraps many details surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance and the plan to find him, claiming that divulging what is known could hurt Bergdahl’s chances of being rescued unharmed.
The Army was forced to announce his name July 18 when the 23-year-old from Ketchum, Idaho, appeared in a video eating a meal and wearing gray garments.
Bergdahl was last seen when he came off guard duty at a joint combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan and was reported missing June 30 after he failed to show up at formation, according to Army statements and news releases.
He is believed to have walked off the outpost on his own, leaving behind his protective gear and weapon. There were indications he was later seen with three Afghan civilians, but Army officials said they don’t believe those Afghans were on the compound or that they walked out with Bergdahl.
Bergdahl’s duty status is listed officially as missing/captured.
On July 16, a statement was issued through the Afghan Islamic Press that the Taliban had Bergdahl and planned to kill him unless operations in two southern Afghanistan districts were halted, International Security Forces Afghanistan spokesman Col. Gregory Julian said.
In the video that surfaced July 18, the voice of an English-speaking man is heard prompting Bergdahl for answers to questions such as “What do you know about Islam?” and “Do you have a message for your government?” Bergdahl answers, advising the U.S. to “remove Americans from Afghanistan because that’s not where we belong.” “We were surprised by the content of the video, the Taliban’s line of questioning and some of the comments [Bergdahl] makes are clearly intended to serve the Taliban’s propaganda purposes,” Mathias said
By Gina Cavallaro
gcavallaro@militarytimes.com
While a massive search was underway for Pfc. Bowe Robert Bergdahl, the soldier who was captured by insurgents in Afghanistan, the military disputed reports he had been taken to Pakistan.
“Based on intelligence we have, we don’t understand him to have moved much beyond” the area of the search in Afghanistan, U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias told Army Times on July 22. “I had heard the Taliban claimed they had taken him [to Pakistan], but experience has proven here that rarely what the Taliban says is true.” The search for Bergdahl has covered four provinces in southeastern Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said no effort is being spared to find the soldier.
Bergdahl’s unit, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, launched a 15-6 investigation during the week of July 20 to establish the facts surrounding his disappearance. The military continues to keep under wraps many details surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance and the plan to find him, claiming that divulging what is known could hurt Bergdahl’s chances of being rescued unharmed.
The Army was forced to announce his name July 18 when the 23-year-old from Ketchum, Idaho, appeared in a video eating a meal and wearing gray garments.
Bergdahl was last seen when he came off guard duty at a joint combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan and was reported missing June 30 after he failed to show up at formation, according to Army statements and news releases.
He is believed to have walked off the outpost on his own, leaving behind his protective gear and weapon. There were indications he was later seen with three Afghan civilians, but Army officials said they don’t believe those Afghans were on the compound or that they walked out with Bergdahl.
Bergdahl’s duty status is listed officially as missing/captured.
On July 16, a statement was issued through the Afghan Islamic Press that the Taliban had Bergdahl and planned to kill him unless operations in two southern Afghanistan districts were halted, International Security Forces Afghanistan spokesman Col. Gregory Julian said.
In the video that surfaced July 18, the voice of an English-speaking man is heard prompting Bergdahl for answers to questions such as “What do you know about Islam?” and “Do you have a message for your government?” Bergdahl answers, advising the U.S. to “remove Americans from Afghanistan because that’s not where we belong.” “We were surprised by the content of the video, the Taliban’s line of questioning and some of the comments [Bergdahl] makes are clearly intended to serve the Taliban’s propaganda purposes,” Mathias said