WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended his administration's operation to rescue Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from Taleban captivity, saying the United States was committed to freeing its prisoners of war regardless of how they were captured.

Mr Obama acknowledged that the Taleban fighters who were freed from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Bergdahl could engage in efforts that were detrimental to US security again. He said he was confident the United States could go after those individuals if that were the case.

Bergdahl had not met with his family yet and was not being interrogated, Mr Obama said.