View Full Version : Afgan Soldiers Missing in MA
So, I have returned to MA (via Panama) and here's the good news I'm greeted with. Hopefully they are not up to no good and are found asleep in a strip club or something:
Afghan soldiers go missing in Massachusetts after mall trip
Three Afghan National Army soldiers, who were in Massachusetts for training, have gone missing after a trip to a shopping mall, authorities said. It's the second time in a week that Afghan security trainees in the United States have disappeared.
The three soldiers do not appear to pose any threat to the public, the Massachusetts National Guard said.
Earlier this month, two Afghan police officers training with the DEA wandered off during a sightseeing trip to Georgetown, CNN affiliate WJLA reported.
They decided they wanted to stay in the United States, but authorities found them and sent them home.
The three men currently missing in Massachusetts are Afghanistan National Army Soldiers Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Cpt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada, and Cpt. Noorullah Aminyar.
They arrived in the United States on September 11 for Exercise Regional Cooperation, an annual event, the guard said, and were quartered at Joint Base Cape Cod.
The three were reported missing by base security late Saturday and were last seen at a Cape Cod mall in Hyannis.
"Base and exercise officials are working with local police and state authorities to locate the three Afghans," the guard said.
Troops from six nations are participating in the exercise, which runs through Wednesday and will go on as scheduled, the guard said.
Roughly a dozen Afghan soldiers are still participating.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/21/us/massachusetts-missing-afghan-soldiers/index.html
I just don't get why continue to mess around with these people and continue to make our own problems.
Oh wait never mind, military industrial complex has bills too. I'm sure these guys are now under ground and hooked up with a cell already operating within our borders, probably financed and managed by our Government in a roundabout way, and will be apart of some attack which will end up taking more innocent lives and what little freedom we have left. Yay.
And why do they have to come all the way to MA for "training"? Good grief.
And why do they have to come all the way to MA for "training"? Good grief.
Indeed....I'm guessing the poor idiots are trying to get to DC and seek asylum so they don't have to go back to that sh%$ hole of a country, but we have to assume the worse until proven otherwise.
Got a feeling they are just out 'enjoying the big PX in the sky...
It is pretty common to have members of the host nation come for visits. Either to train them, or have them function as the partnering unit for the unit that is deploying, and will be working with these guys.
That a small number decide to go AWOL is also pretty common, and while a valid concern that they could be infiltrators and thus could pose a threat, the usual reason is that they don't want to go back.
..., and while a valid concern that they could be infiltrators and thus could pose a threat,...
That is my concern. With the attacks by the Afghan soldiers on our own military, especially the latest one that killed Maj. General Greene, the concern is always there.
If they just don't want to go home, I'm not too worried about that. We have an open border to the south, that is a much bigger problem.
That is my concern. With the attacks by the Afghan soldiers on our own military, especially the latest one that killed Maj. General Greene, the concern is always there.
If they just don't want to go home, I'm not too worried about that. We have an open border to the south, that is a much bigger problem.
I'd expect, all things considered, they'd be under a tight leash off a base in the US, but apparently not if wondering around a mall without any supervision. As it's my area, I may inquire for additional details if they don't pop up. I'd expect it's not being taken lightly locally.
The ANA is pretty AWOL-plagued, with around 3% of all soldiers missing at any given time (officially). Most of them for pretty innocent reasons; wanting to spend time with their family. Some also desert, as the pay sucks.
They also know that there are better opportunities out there in the world, and for some the temptation is too much to resist. Especially when traveling abroad.
When doing our pre-deployment training for the OMLT mission I was part of, the JMRC at Hohenfels was supposed to fly in an ANA kandak (battalion) for us to actually partner with during training. It was cancelled though, as their last rotation resulted in several ANA soldiers going AWOL in Germany.
Apricotshot
09-22-14, 11:42
I'd go UA too if I knew I had to go back to the shitstain of a country.
Spurholder
09-22-14, 12:28
I'd go UA too if I knew I had to go back to the shitstain of a country.
Yeah, no kidding. One trip to a grocery store was probably enough to do it, but a shopping mall? No wonder they popped smoke and want to blend in over here.
Just caught them trying to sneak into Canada:
Three senior Afghan military officers who failed to return to a U.S. training base in Cape Cod have been taken into custody while trying to cross into Canada, according to news reports.
WCVB-TV Boston reports that an unidentified "high-level law-enforcement source" told reporter Karen Anderson, that the men were detained at the Rainbow Bridge Canadian/U.S. border crossing near Niagara Falls on Monday.
The TV station quotes an unidentified "high-level law-enforcement source" for tis reports. The details could not immediately be confirmed.
NBC News, quoting "top Massachusetts law enforcement officials, also reports the three were detained at the bridge,
The three soldiers from the Afghan National Army arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 11 to take part in a two-week training exercise at Camp Edwards, a National Guard training facility located at Joint Base Cape Cod.
They were last spotted at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis, about 20 miles from the base.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Monday that three officers did not appear to pose a threat to the public and may be trying to defect.
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 chaperoned excursion "to introduce them to cultural aspects of American life" when they failed to return to base Saturday night.
Speaking to reporters, Patrick said the U.S. military does not believe the three Afghans pose a danger to the public. He said the military is investigating a number of possibilities, including that they "might be trying to defect."
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.
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 tells the newspaper that the three — like all participants in the field exercises — do not have access to weapons.
Massachusetts National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. James Sahady tells 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.
The camp is a 15,000-acre area inside Joint Base Cape Cod that includes a replica of a forward operating base used by soldiers in places such as Afghanistan, according to the JBCC website.
Sahady said 15 officers and senior enlisted personnel from Afghanistan were taking part in the annual training program, which has been held since 2004. The two-week exercise is scheduled to end Wednesday.
Probably trying to get into Canada to seek asylum, turned away by the Canucks, and bounced back to us. Once upon a time the Canadians were notoriously "easy", but may have tightened up.
Now if they had disguised themselves as 12 year old Guatemalans and turned up in El Paso...
Heavy Metal
09-22-14, 23:39
Sounds like three wild and crazy guys!
Sounds like they just wanted to be "undocumented" and enjoy things here.
Quite honestly, so long as they aren't the "dirka dirka mohammed jihad" variety, I'd rather have some Afghan Army guys skip the border than more illegals from the south.
These guys just wanted to shop at Walmart for the rest of their lives instead of the bazaar in Kandahar. I can't blame them.
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