Posts Tagged ‘captivity’
US soldier recaptured by Taliban after three days on the run
A failed escape attempt by the only American soldier held by the Taliban has left him facing his third Christmas in captivity.
Bowe Bergdahl, 25, from Idaho, made a daring break for freedom by jumping from the first-floor window of the mud-and-brick home in which he was being held in Pakistan, say Taliban commanders.
He ran for cover in forested mountains nearby, but his captors — from the notorious Haqqani network — launched a manhunt as soon as they realised he had got away.
Bergdahl evaded capture for two nights and three days as he searched desperately for villagers who might be able to offer him protection and send word of his whereabouts to American officials, but there were few civilians in the area, which is regularly targeted by missiles launched from US drones.
Bergdahl’s captors eventually found him almost naked and covered in leaves in a shallow trench that he had dug with his bare hands.
He was weak and exhausted, having had no food or water during his entire time on the run, but was nevertheless able to put up a vicious fight.
“He fought like a boxer,” a militant called Hafiz Hanif was told — it took five insurgents to overpower him. Read the rest of this entry »
