The U.S. military has obtained a new video showing the only known American soldier in captivity, whose health appears to be diminishing, a senior U.S. defense official tells Fox News.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl disappeared June 30, 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed his capture in a video released in mid-July that year, which showed the young soldier appearing downcast and frightened.
In the latest video received by the military, Bergdahl was speaking and appeared “gaunt,” the official told Fox News on Wednesday.
Bergdahl is believed to be held by the Taliban-linked Haqqini network in Pakistan.
Bergdahl, who was serving with a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, was 23 when he vanished just five months after arriving in Afghanistan. He was serving at a base in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.
In June 2013, the Taliban offered a deal to free Bergdahl in exchange for five of their most senior operatives being held at Guatanamo Bay. But the proposal was rejected by the Obama administration over a longstanding U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
In a video released in 2010, Bergdahl, on camera, described himself as a “prisoner” who wanted to go home.
"This war isn't worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners," he said, according to The Associated Press.
Experts say that videos released of American hostages contain information that could be used to potentially locate them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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