State Police: Missing Afghan Soldiers Found At Canadian Border

afghan02BOURNE – The Afghan soldiers who went missing from a session at Joint Base Cape Cod Saturday night have been found at the Canadian border.

A secretary in the office of State Police Spokesman David Procopio said she had been authorized to confirm to media that the three men have been found at the Canadian border.

Neither Massachusetts National Guard officials nor the US Command Control that was in charge of the session at the base were able to confirm that the men had been found.

For most of the past several days, Massachusetts National Guard officials were reported to be in search of the soldiers who went missing during a two-week course of training exercises at Joint Base Cape Cod.

The men were last seen at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis.

The soldiers have been identified as Major Jan Mohammad Arash, Captain Mohammad Nasir Askarzada, and Captain Noorullah Aminyar.

The men are reported to be senior military officers from Afghanistan who were participating in a top level training exercise this week at the base. The men were not restricted to Joint Base Cape Cod and were allowed to come and go as they pleased, according to one source.

The military training exercise was an event for military leaders from six countries who were to be at the base on Cape Cod for two weeks.

afghan mapThe base’s new mission is linked with Homeland Security and this high level training is part of that mission. It is organized by US Central Command.

One Cape Cod police source said all local police departments have received a “be on the lookout” or bolo notice about the men and the announcement has been made at all police roll calls when new shifts go on duty.

Another source said that base officials were instructed not to let the officers from other countries “out of their sight,” but it is unclear whether the men were accompanied by National Guard soldiers while at the mall.

Barnstable Police Sergeant Sean Sweeney said calls are coming in from the public to the police station, including a call this morning about a suspicious-looking man with a backpack.



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