Four Albanian commandos VANISH on a Nato training mission in the Brecon Beacons sparking an MoD hunt - as police back home quiz their families

  • Albanian soldiers went missing during a training mission in the Brecon Beacons
  • Four commandos are thought to be keeping their heads down after deserting 
  • Details of their vanishing were kept quite while police and MoD launched search 

By Stewart Paterson For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Four Albanian commandos who vanished from a training mission in Britain are feared to be in hiding. 

The soldiers' disappearance last month was kept under raps while police and the Ministry of Defence launched their hunt. 

However the men are thought to be keeping their head down in the close-knit Albanian community. 

They have been identified as Reni Ajazi, Ylber Kotri, Aleksander Shkulaku and Klevis Lamkaj. 

The soldiers' disappearance last month was kept under raps while police and the Ministry of Defence launched their hunt. Stock image 

The soldiers' disappearance last month was kept under raps while police and the Ministry of Defence launched their hunt. Stock image 

When caught, they face up to five years imprisonment for deserting. 

The four commandos were among a group of 11 Albanians on a Nato exercise in mid-Wales.

Their flights and accommodation - including a final night in London - were paid for by the Ministry Of Defence, The Sun reports. 

'They were supposed to return to barracks and fly back the next day,' a source told the newspaper. 

'The exercise was being run by the Brecon-based 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales. 

It saw 139 teams from all over the world compete in challenges, including a 37-mile march over the Black Mountains. 

A military source in the capital of Albanian capital Tirana added: 'Top brass are fuming. The families of the missing men have been questioned and the investigation is proceeding in Britain and Albania.'

It saw 139 teams from all over the world compete in challenges, including a 37-mile march over the Black Mountains. Stock image

It saw 139 teams from all over the world compete in challenges, including a 37-mile march over the Black Mountains. Stock image

The missing commandos, who are veterans of conflict in Afghanistan, earned £220 a month. 

Dritan Demiraj, the former head of the Albanian Special Forces, blasted the deserters on Facebook. 

He wrote: 'I consider their behaviour unacceptable. I know they are not paid well and work in difficult circumstances but what they did was totally unjustified. 

'They travelled to Britain to represent Albania in a military exercise and I ask them to return to their country as soon as possible.' 

 

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