3 missing Afghan soldiers detained at Canada border
Mass. governor says the men, in the U.S. for training, may have been trying to defect.
Three senior Afghan military officers who failed to return to a U.S. training base in Cape Cod, Mass., were taken into custody Monday while trying to cross into Canada, according to a spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police.
State police spokesman David Procopio said federal authorities were interviewing the officers at Rainbow Bridge checkpoint in Niagara Falls, N.Y., but provided no further details.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said earlier that the three of- ficers did not appear to pose a threat to the public and may have been trying to defect.
The three Afghan National Army soldiers arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 11 to take part in a twoweek training exercise at Camp Edwards, a National Guard train- ing facility at Joint Base Cape Cod.
They were last spotted Saturday at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis, about 20 miles from the base.
The Cape Cod Times, quoting an unidentified spokesman for the U.S. Central Command that is sponsoring the training exercises, reported Monday that the men were on an off-base excursion “to introduce them to cultural aspects of American life” when they failed to return to base Saturday night.
The officers, who were identified as Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Capt. Noorullah Aminy, are among 200 soldiers from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia taking part in the tactical exercises at Camp Edwards. All three carried Afghan passports and valid U.S. visas, according to military officials.
The Cape Cod Times quotes military officials as saying base and exercise officials are working with local and state authorities to locate the men.
The U.S. Central Command spokesman told the Cape Cod
Times that the three — like all participants in the field exercises — did not have access to weapons.
Massachusetts National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. James Sahady told Boston.com that not all 200 foreign participants are locked down on the base. The officers, who are cleared by the State Department to participate in the program, are permitted to go to dinner or other activities off-base without restrictions.