HELENA — An Afghan military officer who deserted last month while participating in a training program in the U.S. was arrested on a Washington-state bound Amtrak train, U.S. Border Patrol agents said Thursday.

Mustafa Tanin was arrested Tuesday when the train stopped to refuel in Havre. Border Patrol agents had boarded the train in search of somebody else when they came across Tanin and questioned him, Agent Craig Duff said.

“He initially claimed to be from Mongolia,” Duff said. “During questioning, he admitted to being from Afghanistan.”

Border Patrol agents found an identification document on Tanin and discovered that his U.S. visa had been canceled because he had deserted, Border Patrol Agent Melissa Hart said.

Tanin had been attending a military training program at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He and another Afghan military official deserted on Sept. 29 while the training group was on a trip to Washington, D.C., Duff said.

“He did not give a reason,” Duff said. “He did not say anything.”

Tanin did not say where he was heading, and he did not resist arrest, Duff said. Tanin did not ask for political asylum, Duff said.

It is unclear whether the second person is still at large. Air Force officials did not have immediate comment Thursday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were holding Tanin in Great Falls.

He will be transported to Salt Lake City, where he will face deportation proceedings, Border Patrol Agent Melissa Hart said.

Last September, three Afghan military officers who were participating in a joint military training exercise in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were detained after they crossed the Canadian border at Niagara Falls to seek refugee status.

They said they feared retribution by the Taliban because of their work with U.S. soldiers.

Canada denied the men entry and returned them to the U.S., which began deportation proceedings against them.

One of the three was later allowed to make a refugee claim in Canada.