LOWNDES COUNTY, Ga. — The Air Force and FBI are searching for two members of the Afghan military who were last seen on Moody Air Force Base outside Valdosta.
Personnel last saw the maintenance workers on Friday and now federal and local law enforcement are scrambling to figure out where they went and why.
“With all that’s going on in the world right now, and all that’s going on in our country, it’s a little alarming that they would walk away and nobody knows where they went,” said veteran Phillip Robinson.
Air Force officials said the men were two of 23 Afghan air force personnel at the base learning to fly and maintain an A-29 fighter plane, Mirwais Kohistani and Shirzad Rohullah.
The group arrived at Valdosta in January and were scheduled to graduate later this month.
Kohistani and Rohullah were last seen Friday and were reported missing Monday morning when they didn’t show up to their regular maintenance training with the 81st Fighter Squadron.
“I honestly think that they just left because they don’t want to go back,” said Valdosta resident Janie Rightmyer.
In a statement, the Air Force said the Afghans were screened prior to showing up in the United States and the two who are missing do not pose any apparent threat.
“I would just caution that that assessment is as good as what we know,” said Georgia State University professor Robert Friedmann.
Friedmann believes the men most likely walked away because they were afraid to return to a harder life back home.
“But there’s also the option that they have gone underground because of some radicalization that the military was not aware of,” Friedmann said.
Air Force leaders at the base would not release the names or pictures of the missing airmen.
“One option is because they don’t want somebody who could be fearful of them, even if they are innocent, to perhaps take the law into their own hands because they are suspicious of them,” Friedmann said. “Even if they had help, which is reasonable, then the question is, what would they do once they’re underground?”
The military is now coordinating a search warrant with federal and local law enforcement.
WSBTV
