KABUL: The Afghan Taliban said Friday that US Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was treated well during the five years they held him captive and was even allowed to play soccer with the men holding him.

The spokesman, Zaibullah Mujahid, told The Associated Press by telephone that Bergdahl was held under “good conditions,” and was given fresh fruit and any other foods he requested.

“You can ask him in America about his life (in captivity). He will not complain,” Mujahid said.

He said Bergdahl was held in different locations inside Afghanistan, without providing further details.

He said the soldier enjoyed playing soccer as well as reading, including English-language books about Islam.

Since Bergdahl's release senior officials, including President Barack Obama, have said the prisoner swap that involved the release of five high-profile Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, and which has caused a furor in the United States, was hastened by concerns the Army sergeant’s physical health was deteriorating.

But the Obama administration later told senators it did not notify Congress about the pending swap because of intelligence the Taliban might kill Bergdahl if the deal was made public, congressional and administration officials said Thursday.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly.

Mujahid said he could not immediately comment on whether the Taliban had threatened to kill Bergdahl, who is currently recovering at a military hospital in Germany.

Several administration and congressional officials said that a December video shown to senators in a briefing portrayed Bergdahl's health as in decline but not so desperately that he required an emergency rescue. An assessment by US intelligence agencies about the video in January came to the same conclusion, said two congressional officials familiar with it.

Taliban fighters freed Bergdahl Saturday and turned him over to a US special operations team in eastern Afghanistan. Under the deal, five Taliban militants were released from Guantanamo and flown to Qatar, where they are to remain for a year under conditions that have not been spelled out in public.

A federal law requires Congress to be told 30 days before a prisoner is released from Guantanamo, but Obama administration officials said it did not apply in what they deemed an emergency situation.