A Taliban commander shut to the negotiations over the discharge of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl informed TIME Thursday that the deal made to safe Bergdahl’s launch has made it extra interesting for fighters to seize American troopers and different high-value targets.
“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,” the commander mentioned, talking by phone on situation of anonymity as a result of he isn’t licensed to converse to the media. “It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”
The commander has been identified to TIME for a number of years and has persistently equipped dependable details about Bergdahl’s captivity.
The U.S. agreed on May 31 to trade 5 Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for Bergdahl, America’s solely dwelling prisoner of battle. Following the deal, the outpouring of reduction by those that had lengthy lobbied to “Bring Bowe Home” was quickly eclipsed by accusations and recriminations as Republican lawmakers accused the administration of creating a harmful precedent.