Bowe Bergdahl: US soldier captured by Taliban in Afghanistan 'facing desertion charges'

Bowe Bergdahl, the US army Sgt. who went AWOL (absent without leave) in Afghanistan and was released last spring after five years in Taliban captivity, is facing charges of desertion and misbehaviour before the enemy, according to reports.

The Washington Post, citing Bergdahl's lawyer, said the sergeant was handed charges on Tuesday and the hearing is set on 22 April in San Antonio.

Officials from the US army forces are due to deliver a statement from Fort Bragg on Bergdahl's case.

The 28-year-old went missing from his base in Paktika province in 2009 and is believed to have grown disenchanted with the US Army mission in Afghanistan, and simply decided to go "outside the wire" and disappear. He was held hostage by the infamous Haqqani network, allied with the Taliban

First-hand accounts of soldiers in his squad reported that Bergdahl dropped his weapons while on guard duty and walked off the observation post with just a compass, a knife, water, a digital camera and a diary.

This version of the events, which is unconfirmed, is based on a 2012 report by Rolling Stone magazine which comprised interviews with Bergdahl's fellow soldiers and his parents in Idaho.

After the release last June, former Sergeant Matt Vierkant told CNN that Bergdahl "deserted during a time of war and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him" and for this reason he should face a military trial.