US helped family escape Afghanistan overland

WASHINGTON – The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

A U.S. official says Monday that the citizen and the citizen’s children “successfully departed Afghanistan using an overland route” and were met by American Embassy staff at the border.

The official would not speak to details of the evacuation or to the country in which they arrived, citing security reasons and the need to preserve the viability of the route for possible future efforts.

The evacuation is the first overland extraction the U.S. government has confirmed since it ended its air evacuation effort last week with the final withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.