Education

Don’t Be Alarmed But 7 Afghan Military Students Have Disappeared Inside America THIS MONTH

Afghan soldiers AFP/Getty Images/AREF KARIMI

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The Pentagon has confirmed that seven Afghan military students training at various facilities across the United States have disappeared in the month of September.

Four of the students disappeared over Labor Day weekend, Defense Department spokesman Patrick L. Evans told Fox News.

The remaining three went AWOL over the weekend of September 17 and 18.

The Labor Day weekend deserters included a pair of Afghan military students training at Fort Benning in Georgia, a student at Virginia’s Fort Lee and a student at a facility in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The three deserters who disappeared later in September include two students training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and one training at Georgia’s Fort Gordon.

Defense Department officials have been able to locate at least two of the AWOL Afghan students. Their current whereabouts are unclear, however. They may have since departed from the United States.

It’s also not clear how many of the remaining five Afghan students remain on the lam.

The weekend of September 17 and 18 saw four attempted terrorist bombings in New York and New Jersey.

Pentagon officials say they believe the AWOL Afghan students played no part in those acts of terror.

“It is important to note that the majority of Afghans who train in the U.S. successfully complete their training and return to their country,” Evans, the Pentagon spokesman, told Fox News.

In some cases when U.S. officials learn of attempts by foreign trainees to leave, Evans added, “those students have been returned immediately to their country.”

In 2015, an AWOL Afghan military student turned up in Virginia — by way of Georgia — and appeared to seek political asylum.

The United States has trained at least one foreign national who later became a decided enemy of American interests.

Gulmurod Khalimov, who reportedly now serves as the “minister of war” for ISIS, took part in a series of counterterrorism training courses sponsored by the U.S. Department of State back when he was a police officer in Tajikistan.

The State Department-sponsored programs which Khalimov attended took place in both the United States and Tajikistan, according to The Washington Times.

The taxpayer-funded training focused on diplomatic security and anti-terrorism.

The State Department is now offering a $3 million bounty for Khalimov.

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