According to reports, at least four Afghan National Army (ANA) officers have vanished from a warfare course in Italy.
The missing officers were among the 20 Afghan army officers attending the course in Val d’Aosta regions and it is believed that the officers have fled to France.
They were attending the Italian army’s gruelling Alpine training centre at Thuile, the local weekly newspaper Gazzetta Matin reported.
This comes as three officers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) who were taking part in a training exercise in Cape Co military base in Massachusetts state went missing late last month. While, two Afghan policemen identified as 22-year-old Mohammad Yasin Ataye and 24-year-old Mohd Naweed Samimi vanished during a training visit in United States in mid September.
A senior Afghan army officer also claimed asylum upon arrival in United Kingdom to participate in NATO Summit in south Wales earlier last month.
ANA officer Enayatullah Barek was flag-bearer and was due to accompany Afghan army chief of staff Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi in NATO summit in Wales.
This is not the first time that senior Afghan officials and government employees are seeking asylum during official trips outside the country, specifically in European countries.
Several security officials, government employees and diplomats have not returned back to Afghanistan following their official tours, mainly due to security threats.
