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donnay
09-22-2014, 10:09 AM
Three Afghan Army officers reported missing from US base

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CC&Date=20140922&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=409220314&Ref=AR&maxH=230&maxW=370&border=0&Q=80&cb=20140922113700


By Doug Fraser
also by George Brennan
dfraser@capecodonline.com
gbrennan@capecodonline.com
September 22, 2014

CAMP EDWARDS — Police and military officials are searching for three officers from the Afghanistan National Army who were engaged in a training exercise at Joint Base Cape Cod.

Massachusetts National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. James Sahady said the three men were reported missing on Saturday night after traveling into Hyannis that day.

"They didn't report back (to the base)," Sahady said. "There is no indication they pose a threat to the public."

Police and base officials are cooperating in the search for the three men, identified as Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Capt. Noorullah Aminyar. Sahady didn't have any descriptions or ages for the three officers.

A state police spokesman said they are not involved in the investigation.

There are 200 soldiers and civilians participating in the seven-day event at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod. Along with 12 other members of the Afghanistan National Army, the three men were all engaged in the joint exercise that focused on working on collaboration and tactical strategies that involved civilians and officers and senior enlisted personnel, Sahady said. There were six nations, including the U.S., participating in the exercise, which is ongoing and is scheduled to wrap up by Wednesday. They were housed on the base and all participants at the exercise were vetted by U.S. Central Command, Sahady said.

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Jon Custis of the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, who organized the training exercise, did not return a call Sunday seeking comment.

"They had the freedom to come and go," Sahady said. "If they were off-duty, they could go to McDonald's or the mall."

The three arrived in the country on Sept. 11, Sahady said. Saturday was a free day. They were last spotted Saturday night at the Cape Cod Mall, Sahady said.

The Times attended the training exercise on Friday where military officials from the six nations involved were huddled around laptops, maps and projector screens working through various training scenarios. During the Times visit, none of the soldiers involved carried weapons.

Continued... (http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140922/NEWS/409220314)

Zippyjuan
09-22-2014, 11:34 AM
Reports are that they don't want to go back to Afghanistan. Can you blame them?

pcosmar
09-22-2014, 11:57 AM
Reports are that they don't want to go back to Afghanistan. Can you blame them?

What report?

Zippyjuan
09-22-2014, 12:12 PM
Sorry- that was apparently the two Afghan police officers here for training who tried to hide so they could stay in the US. But the military trainees may have the same idea.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/09/22/350606517/3-afghan-army-officers-disappear-while-on-training-in-u-s


The latest incident resembles one last week involving Mohammad Naweed Samimi, 24, and Mohammad Yasin Ataya, 22. The two Afghan police officers were at a Drug Enforcement Administration-supervised trip to Georgetown when they went missing last week. The two had been on a five-week training program with the agency in Quantico, Va. Officials, who would not say where the men were found, said they were being returned to Afghanistan along with their fellow trainees.

ABC 7 News quotes the DEA as saying, "The two men separated from the group and left because they did not want to go back to Afghanistan."

presence
09-22-2014, 12:15 PM
missing Afghan soldiers caught at Canadian border


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/three-missing-afghan-soldiers-caught-at-canadian-border/