Afghan militants say will not hurt held US soldier

ISLAMABAD: A US soldier held by Afghan militants will not be harmed despite the Obama administration's decision to declare his alleged captors a terrorist group, a senior member of the Haqqani network said.

However, the United States and NATO can expect stepped-up attacks, he said.

The commander, who spoke by telephone from an undisclosed location, said that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 26, of Haily, Idaho -- the only American prisoner of war of the Afghan conflict -- was a Taliban captive.

The U.S. says that Bergdahl has been held by the Haqqanis since 2009.
"The American soldier is with the Emirate center [a reference to Taliban based inside Afghanistan]. ... The Americans also know it," the Haqqani commander said.

"We are not cowards, and we consider it as coward to harm prisoners," he said.

From his home in Idaho, the soldier's father, Bob Bergdahl, welcomed the assurances but was cautious. "That's great news, but we're very careful about the information we digest," he said.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the organization's military commander, is seeking permission from Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to stage a blitzkrieg of attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the commander said.

The Haqqani network was blamed for an attack Saturday in Kabul.
A suicide bomber struck just before noon on a street that connects the NATO alliance headquarters to the nearby U.S. and Italian embassies, a large U.S. military base and the Afghan Defense Ministry.

At least six Afghan civilians were killed. A NATO spokesman said there were no coalition casualties.