US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl was held in solitary confinement for long periods during five years in Taliban captivity, according to a US military official.
He also said that the soldier suffers skin and gum ailments, emotional distress and has not yet spoken to his parents.
Bergdahl, who was released on May 31st to American forces in exchange for five Taliban detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison, is being treated at the US Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
The US military official said the 28-year-old is physically well enough to travel back to the United States for treatment.
He has disorders affecting his skin and gums that could be expected after his long captivity, the official said, confirming a report in The New York Times.
The newspaper reported yesterday that Bergdahl told medical officials in Germany the Taliban kept him in a metal cage in the dark for weeks after he tried to escape.
Bergdahl, who was a private when he was captured, does not like being called a sergeant, the rank he was promoted to while in captivity, the military official said.
The soldier is struggling with some emotional issues and has not spoken to his parents, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Bergdahl’s father, Bob Bergdahl, has received death threats by email, an Idaho police chief said on Saturday.
He got the first one on Wednesday, the same day the city cancelled a planned rally celebrating Bergdahl’s release, Hailey Police chief Jeff Gunter said.
Hailey, a tourist community of 8,000 people in the mountains of central Idaho, has been hit by hundreds of vitriolic phone calls and emails. – (Reuters)