Canadian man Joshua Boyle, his American wife and their three children have left Pakistan Friday after being rescued from a Taliban-linked group that held them for five years, Pakistani officials said.
The two Pakistani security officials said Boyle, Caitlan Coleman and the children left by plane from Islamabad, Pakistan. The BBC was reporting early Friday that the family was headed to
London, England.
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The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with official protocol.
WATCH: Canadian Joshua Boyle and family finally freed after 5 years in captivity.
Boyle, who is from Waterloo, Ont., was travelling Coleman in Central Asia when they were kidnapped by a Taliban-linked group called the Haqqani network. Coleman was pregnant at the time; she has since given birth to three children.
There are few details of what happened during the five years they were held. In one hostage video, Boyle is seen pleading with Ottawa to pressure the Afghan government to stop killing prisoners.
Pakistani officials announced the family’s release Thursday morning, saying they were found in a vehicle during a raid by Pakistani commandos. Five Haqqani members were killed in the shootout and Boyle himself was hit by shrapnel.
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On Thursday, U.S. Gen. John Kelly said the family was being kept in a hole in the ground.
They were then flown by helicopter to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, but have since left. It’s not known whether they will head back to the U.S. or Canada.
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