WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will address the American public on Saturday hours after Taliban fighters released a US soldier they captured nearly five years ago in Afghanistan.

Obama will speak in the White House Rose Garden at 6:15 pm (2215 GMT), according to an official schedule. The White House did not specify the content of the statement but it comes after the release of US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the only American prisoner in the nearly 13-year war.