A Closer Look at the AWOL Afghans

According to a series of interviews and documents obtained by FoxNews.com, the following Afghan military personnel remain at large:

Mirza Gul Neshat: Age: Unknown. Disappeared from Defense Language Institute (DLI) at Lackland AFB on July 1, just hours after walking across the stage and receiving his certificate at a graduation ceremony.  DLI Commander Howard Jones shook his hand and handed him his certificate. At the end of the ceremony, Jones told the students to get home safe and to enjoy their holiday weekend, a celebration of American independence. Sources believe Neshat, a member of the Afghan National Army, decided to flee because he knew the Afghan liaison was scheduled to fly back to Afghanistan on July 2, and Neshat thought that no one other than the liaison would be able to track him down.

Bahram Mohmand: Age: 40s. Disappeared from DLI after failing his final exams in March 2010.  He is believed to be the only fully licensed pilot -- licensed by Afghanistan; not by the U.S. -- in the group of AWOL Afghans. He began his English program at DLI in 2009, but failed his final exam four months ago and learned that he would not graduate -- and therefore wouldn’t qualify to receive pilot’s training elsewhere in the U.S. He was humiliated and ashamed of being sent back home to Afghanistan, where he has at least 10 children and two wives, without receiving the training he was sent to obtain, sources said.  The shame of failing his test likely led to his rash decision to try to stay in the U.S. (The shame and humiliation of failing to complete the program has led to numerous other instances of Afghans going AWOL; law enforcement sources say they’re concerned that this humiliation could be exploited by unsavory types.) Mohmand is believed to be somewhere in the continental United States.

(Although he remains at large, Mohmand’s name was not included in the recent nationwide BOLO alert for 17 missing Afghan military members sent out to law enforcement agencies across the country two weeks ago.  Neither NCIS, the military nor immigration nor law enforcement has explained why the initial BOLO bulletin contained so much outdated or incorrect information.)

Abdulahad Ahadi: Age: 26. Disappeared from DLI in December.  He is believed to be in the western United States, possibly in Nevada, and sources say he’s been in contact via Skype with other AWOL Afghans who also are missing. His passport is still at DLI. He remains at large.

Javed Aryan: Age: 23. Disappeared from DLI in October 2009, though law enforcement has classified him as having left in January 2010. He received assistance from his girlfriend, an American woman, in leaving DLI for the Canadian border. The woman was caught at the border and detained. Aryan was somehow let go and is believed to be living with his three brothers, who have resided in Canada for years.

Ahmad Sameer Samar: Age: 27. Was scheduled for training in Virginia in February 2009 and went AWOL in March. In response to Facebook messages from FoxNews.com, Samar said he was not the Sameer Samar who was being sought by law enforcement and said he’d never been in the military.  But multiple sources have told FoxNews.com that the Samar who has corresponded via Facebook is the same one who has gone AWOL.  According to information now deleted from his Facebook profile, Samar is living in London, Ontario, in Canada.  He listed his home town as San Antonio.  He remains missing.

Among the group of at least 31 who went AWOL, eight are in custody.  They are: 

Amiri Padsha Khan: Age 32. Former Afghan liaison officer Wahab Sultany convinced Khan, who fled DLI for the Canadian border in December 2009, to return to San Antonio and turn himself in to immigration authorities. He was scheduled for deportation on June 21, but remains in a South Texas immigration detention center.

Mohamed Fahim Faqier: Age: 23. Graduated from DLI and was scheduled to begin formal training at Fort Benning, a U.S. Army base in Georgia, in September 2009. He went AWOL in November 2009. He married a woman he met while attending DLI and is fighting deportation. He has been held at a San Antonio immigration detention center for more than eight months.

Akmal Ahmadzai: Age: Unknown. Disappeared from DLI in August 2009.  Currently in custody.

Zabiullah Momin: Age: Unknown. Disappeared from DLI in December 2009. Currently being held at an immigration detention center in San Antonio.

Rahim Habibi: Age: Unknown. Disappeared from DLI in September 2009. Was scheduled to move on to pilot training. Currently in ICE custody.

Sayed Qadir Shah Habiby: Age: 25. Disappeared from DLI in September 2009. Was living in San Francisco. Currently being held at San Francisco county jail.

Shah Wali Kakar: Age: 30. Disappeared in December 2009 with friend Habiby after failing his exam, rendering him unqualified to go on to the pilot training he was brought to the U.S. for. Currently being held at San Francisco County jail.

Abdul Saleem Azami: Age: Unknown. Disappeared in December 2009 and was taken into custody one month later.

One Afghan has conditional U.S. residency:

Aminullah Sangarwal: Age: 27. Went AWOL from DLI in March 2006.

At least 18 others are in Canada:

Abdul Ghani Barakzai: Age: 32. Went AWOL from DLI in September 2005.

Mohd Ali Karimi: Age: 27: Went AWOL from DLI on July 5, 2006, the night before his scheduled flight back home to Afghanistan. Sources say he gave away clothing, including his Afghan military uniform, to other students the night before he fled. Sources believe he fled at the last minute because he’d just spent hundreds of dollars on English textbooks to take home with him to use teaching English. Currently living in Toronto.

Mohammad Nasim Fateh Zada: Age: 43. Went AWOL from DLI in either 2005 or 2006. Currently living in Toronto.

Sardar Mohd Ahmadi: Age: 32. Went AWOL from DLI in January 2009, after graduating from DLI but before boarding scheduled flight back to Afghanistan on January 23. He told FoxNews.com in a phone interview and in a series of Facebook messages and chats that he wasn’t missing, was an infantryman until he went to Canada and should not have been included in the BOLO. Currently living in Toronto.

Mohammad Zaher Aetimady: Age: 28, according to his Facebook profile. He and Ahmadi made the trip from DLI in San Antonio to Canada together. Currently living in Toronto.

Mirwais Qassmi: Age: 36. Was scheduled for formal training at Fort Sam after graduating from DLI but went AWOL in September 2008. He told FoxNews.com in a Facebook message, “I am not missing. just I left US and came to Canada and I am living here since October 2008. As human, it is my right to live in a peaceful country.”

Barsat Noorani: Age: 28. Went AWOL from DLI in 2008. Currently living in Toronto.

Atiqullah Habibi: Age: 28. Went AWOL from a Marine Corps training program at Quantico.  Currently living in Toronto. He sent this message via Facebook to FoxNews.com:

“Hi, how are you Jana? thanks for your report, I am so sorry that you have got incorect report about me, I am not missing from DLI, I am liveing ligally where I am, so if you have any concerne about me, please e-mail me any time thanks " Habibi

Obaiddullah Abrahimy: Age: 30. Went AWOL from DLI in December 2009.

Sayed Nasir Hashimi: Age: 38. Went AWOL from DLI in July 2009.

Abdul Majeed Zaki: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in August 2008. He was scheduled to begin training at Sheppard Air Force Base in September but never showed.

Ahmad Walli Hamdard: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in September 2008 .

Shaker Noori: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL after graduating from DLI and starting training in June 2008 at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He went AWOL from Fort Sam Houston in October 2008.

Abdullah Aseel: Age: Unknown. Was scheduled to continue training at Fort Rucker in Alabama in July 2009.  He went AWOL from DLI in June.

Said Amin Sadat: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in June 2009.

Ehsanullah Hakimi: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in June 2009.

Ajmal Safy: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in June 2009.

Parwiz Imbrahimkhel: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in July 2009.

Parwez Azimi: Age: Unknown. Went AWOL from DLI in December 2009.