QUETTA, PAKISTAN – Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may be innocent of desertion as far as the U.S. Army is concerned, but in recent days the ex-prisoner of war now faces the same charges from the most unlikely direction: his former captors.

Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has announced that the insurgent group, following its own internal investigation, would be charging Bergdahl with deserting his post — a crime punishable by death, public flogging, or lengthy imprisonment, although typically not in that order.

"We are investigating the incident where Brother [Bergdahl] may — and I stress this is not definite — may have walked off his post without his AK-47," Zabihullah said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

According to Zabihullah, on May 31, 2014 Bergdahl was pulling security at a high-level meeting in Khowst Province between a Taliban commander and a group of American Special Forces who had arrived by helicopter. Zabihullah said that Bergdahl appears to have boarded the helicopter without any authorization and is now believed to have defected to the United States.