2 Afghan airmen still missing from Ga. base

MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — New details emerged Thursday in the intense search for two Afghan student airmen missing from Moody Air Force Base, about 230 miles south of Atlanta, near Valdosta.

Authorities say Mirwais Kohistani and Shirzad Rohullah failed to show up at the base for training Monday.

“They’ve just gone missing. We’re not sure why,” said U.S. Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick.

Gulick said by phone law enforcement officials are tracing the steps the two men took the last five days.

Valdosta Regional Airport officials confirmed law enforcement seized hours of surveillance video in connection with the disappearance of the Afghan men. The base would not confirm reports the men rented a car there.

3 missing Afghan officers detained at Canadian border

“As you know, they’re from Afghanistan over there fighting for their country’s freedom. So, there are those that would want to harm them if they found out they were in the Afghanistan air force,” said Gulick.

Gulick said the disappearance could even put the men's families at risk of being attacked. Gulick said he does not believe the men pose a threat to anyone in the United States. He said the pair were nominated by the Afghan air force, vetted first by the U.S. Naval Air Training Command, then by the Department of State before they were issued visas.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened, so we just want to find them if we can,” said Gulick. “I think we just think we continue to look for them, and follow to try and find them."

In September 2014, three senior Afghan military officers who failed to return to a Camp Edwards, a National Guard training facility at Joint Base Cape Cod, Mass., were taken into custody while trying to cross into Canada and subsequently sent back to Afghanistan.

The three soldiers from the Afghan National Army had arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2014, to take part in a two-week training exercise.

The officers, who were identified as Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Capt. Noorullah Aminy, were 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.

Contributing: Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY. Follow Dontaye Carter on Twitter: @DontayeCarter