Police are looking for three Afghanistan National Army soldiers who went missing on Cape Cod, Massachusetts National Guard confirms.
Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Capt. Noorullah Aminyar were last seen Saturday night. They were last seen at Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis. State police and local officials are searching.
According to officials, the soldiers have been at Joint Base Cape Cod since Sept. 11. They are not considered a threat.
Gov. Deval Patrick told NECN on Monday that he learned of the situation about an hour after the military authorities were notified.
"There's been a lot of speculation... including that they may be trying to defect," Patrick said.
Col. Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, told NBC News there is "no reason to think they have nefarious intent."
U.S. military officials said the three officers were "thoroughly vetted" by the State Department, the American embassy in Kabul and U.S. military forces.
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The soldiers are in Massachusetts for Regional Cooperation, a training exercise designed to promote cooperation between regional and foreign forces around the world. Training exercises like this have been held annually since 2004 to promote cooperation among forces.
Eleven other Afghan soldiers were among the 200 participants from six nations including the U.S. The session wraps up Wednesday.
U.S. military officials told NBC News the training was a "command post exercise" that did not involve any weapons or actual maneuvers. The three soldiers were not armed with weapons at the time they disappeared.
Military escorts reportedly accompanied the 14 Afghan soldiers on a "cultural exercise" to the Cape Cod shopping mall on Saturday night when three of the soldiers managed to slip away unnoticed.
Pentagon officials said local and state law enforcement have taken the lead in the search for the missing soldiers.
Officials also pointed out that there have been numerous similar incidents over the years involving Afghans, Pakistanis, Iraqis and other foreign military who came to the U.S. for training and slipped away in an effort to remain in the country.
