Bergdahl on way back to US: Pentagon

The Taliban-released US service man Bowe Bergdahl has left the hospital in Germany and is scheduled to arrive in San Antonio Friday where he will resume his recovery, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday.

According to John Kirby, press secretary of the US Defence Department, Bergdahl left Ramstein Air Base Thursday afternoon and will continue his reintegration process at Brooke Army Medical Centre at Fort Sam Houston, Xinhua reported.

The US government exchanged five Taliban leaders held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for Bergdahl. US special operations forces picked up the sergeant in eastern Afghanistan May 31.

US medics in Afghanistan treated Bergdahl at Bagram Airfield, and he continued on to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany, Kirby said, adding that so far, Bergdahl has not spoken publicly about his time in captivity or about the circumstances that led to him being taken hostage.

As Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has made clear, Kirby said, "Our first priority is making sure that Sergeant Bergdahl continues to get the care and support he needs."