Caitlin Coleman and her family, held captive by Afghan extremists since 2012, were freed in an operation led by the Pakistan military, the White House confirmed Thursday.
Coleman, now 32, was abducted with her Canadian husband Josh Boyle, National Public Radio said, noting she was pregnant then and had two more children while in captivity.
"Today they are free," President Donald Trump said in a White House statement Thursday. "This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan. The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region. We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."
Little is known about the Pakistani military operation and where in Pakistan the family was rescued, per NPR.
Here are eight facts about Coleman, her family and captivity.
1. Coleman was seven months pregnant when she and her husband were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012, per NPR.
2. The couple had traveled to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, before arriving in Afghanistan in the summer of 2012 before they were captured, Fox News reported.
3. Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, told NPR they had last heard from the couple on Oct. 8, 2012, when their son-in-law contacted them from an Internet cafe in Afghanistan.
4. Coleman and Boyle were being held by the Haqqani network, an Afghan extremist group affiliated with the Taliban, per the White House.
5. U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the family and turned over information to Pakistan after learning they had been moved across the border into that country, per NPR.
6. Fox News reported that Coleman and Boyle were last seen in a hostage video in December 2016 pleading for the American and Canadian governments to intervene in their situation.
7. Jim Coleman issued a plea to top Taliban commanders in the Circa News in 2016, calling on them to be "kind and merciful" and release the couple.
8. The website Vox reported in February that a Haqqani representative told military personnel that they would release the family for a ransom of $150,000, but the FBI allegedly never pursued offer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.