BOSTON (Reuters) - Three Afghan National Army soldiers who did not return to a training exercise at U.S. military base in Massachusetts were found trying to cross the Canadian border, local media reported on Monday.
The men were taken into custody at a border crossing near Niagara Falls, New York, WCVB-TV reported, citing an unidentified law enforcement source.
Military officials did not immediately respond to request for comment and the report could not be independently verified.
The three soldiers were reported missing from Joint Base Cape Cod, located in a beach resort area, after a Saturday trip to a nearby mall and are not viewed as a security threat, according to a spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard, which helps run the facility.
The men were not armed and had no access to weapons during their training, officials said.
U.S. military officials are trying to find the three soldiers, Major Jan Mohammad Arash, Captain Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Captain Noorullah Aminyar, according to a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command.
The men, part of a group of 200 soldiers from six nations participating in the exercise, were in the country legally and had broken no laws by failing to return to the base, the spokeswoman said.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
