US Army had planned rescue operation inside Pakistan to free soldier held by Taliban

US Army officials had reportedly considered conducting a rescue mission inside Pakistan to free US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was taken hostage by Taliban in 2009, according to a Washington Times report.

Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 from a base in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province, with the Taliban later saying they had captured him, the Express Tribune reports

On May 31, he was released by the group after a period of five years following a prisoner swap agreement.

Bergdahl was made to shuttle between numerous militant groups along the Afghanistan- Pakistan border during his captivity.

According to the report, a former senior administration official who participated in discussions related to the soldier's release said that US officials began to contemplate an operation to rescue Bergdahl.

The official added that the US' concern was angering Pakistan's government and Inter-Services Intelligence," pointing at the May 2011 raid in Abottabad to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and subsequent strain in relations between the two countries, the report said.