American Soldier Freed by Taliban in Prisoner Trade

The only American prisoner of war from the Afghan conflict, caught by insurgents nearly 5 years ago, has actually been launched to American forces in exchange for 5 Taliban prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Obama administration officials said Saturday.

The soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was turned over to American Special Operations troops inside Afghanistan near the Pakistan border about 10:30 a.m. Saturday in a tense however uneventful exchange with 18 Taliban officials, American officials stated. Moments later on, Sergeant Bergdahl was whisked away by the helicopter-borne task forces, American officials stated. He was found in good condition and able to stroll.

The 5 Taliban detainees at Guantánamo, consisting of 2 senior militant commanders said to be linked in killing countless Shiites in Afghanistan, were being transferred to the custody of officials from Qatar, who will accompany them back to that Persian Gulf state, where they will be subject to security restrictions, including a 1 year travel ban. For more stories, click here.

'The Militants Won the East' said Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine-- It is by now a reputable pattern. Armed, masked men in their 20s to 40s tornado a public building of high symbolic value in a city someplace in eastern Ukraine, evict anyone still there, seize weapons and ammunition, throw up barricades and proclaim themselves the rulers of a "individuals's republic." It is unclear who is in charge or how the militias are arranged.

Through such techniques, a few thousand pro-Russian militants have actually taken structures in about a lots cities, successfully establishing control over much of a commercial region of about 6.5 million snuggled versus the Russian border.

Day by day, in the areas surrounding the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, pro-Russian forces have actually resisted all efforts by the main government to re-establish its authority, and on Wednesday, Ukraine's acting president conceded exactly what had long been apparent: The government's authorities and security officials had blown up.

"Lack of exercise, helplessness as well as criminal betrayal" pester the security forces, the acting leader, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, informed a conference of regional governors in Kiev. "It is difficult to accept but it's the fact. The majority of law enforcers in the east are incapable of doing their duties.". Read more here.