Missing Afghan Soldiers Found Crossing Canada Border

The three Afghani soldiers who were reported missing from a Massachusetts military base during a training exercise were found trying to cross the United States border into Canada on Monday, officials say.

The three soldiers of the Afghanistan National Army were stopped by border patrol authorities while trying to cross into Canada via Niagara Falls, New York on Monday afternoon. Local news channels reported that the men had been taken into custody by police near the border, although a spokeswoman with the U.S. Central Command said the men had broken no rules when they failed to show up for their training on Saturday.

The three men, Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada, and Capt. Noorullah Aminyar, were reported missing last Saturday when they failed to return back to Joint Base Cape Cod after visiting a local mall.

The men were visiting the military base along with several other Afghan soldiers as part of a peacekeeping training event known as Regional Cooperation 2014. During the event, afghani soldiers collaborate with U.S. intelligence to undergo a series of scenarios that deal with racial tensions and civil unrest in their local communities.

A guard with the Joint Base Cape Cod told CNN earlier on Monday that "base and exercise officials are working with local police and state authorities to locate the three Afghans."

Earlier this month, two Afghani men training with the DEA in Washington, D.C. vanished while on a chaperoned visit to Georgetown. The men were later found by officials, and said they had run away from the DEA training program to avoid being returned to their homeland.