Oct. 13 (UPI) -- An American-Canadian family held captive by a militant group in Pakistan for five years boarded a flight to Britain Friday, en route to Canada.
After being freed Thursday, American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children -- who were all born in captivity -- left on a Pakistan International Airlines flight.
The family's final destination is expected to be Canada, after Boyle declined to board a plane to the United States -- over to concerns over his association with a Guantanamo Bay inmate, Pakistan's Geo News reported.
The Guantanamo detainee, Omar Khadr, is the brother of Boyle's ex-wife.
Coleman and Boyle were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 while Coleman was pregnant with the couple's first child. They were held by the Haqqani network, a wealthy and well-connected group associated with the Taliban.
"It's a blessing that those children have survived and they're young enough that they can live a normal life," Boyle's aunt said of the family's release.
The Pakistan military said it was alerted to the family's movement across the Afghan border and surrounded the vehicle, following a car chase.
"We moved the hostages via helicopter to Islamabad. They were then handed over to U.S. authorities," a spokesman for the Pakistani military said.
"This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan," President Donald Trump said Thursday. "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."
