WASHINGTON — The American soldier who went missing June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed captured, appeared on a video posted Saturday to a Web site by the Taliban, two U.S. defense officials confirmed.

The soldier is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript gray outfit. Early in the video, one of his captors holds the soldier’s dogtag up to the camera. His name is clearly visible, though the soldier’s identity has not yet been released by the Pentagon pending notification of members of Congress and the soldier’s family. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that the man in the video is the captured soldier.

The soldier said the date is July 14. He says he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol.

Asked how he was doing, the soldier said: “Well, I’m scared, scared I won’t be able to go home,” he said on the video.

On July 2, the U.S. military said an American soldier had disappeared after walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan. The only other service member that officials could recall who had been captured was Navy SEAL Neil Roberts, killed in March 2002.