Afghan girl from famous cover portrait is evacuated to Italy

ROME (AP) — National Geographic’s famed green-eyed “Afghan Girl” has arrived in Italy as part of the West’s evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban takeover of the country. The office of Premier Mario Draghi said Italy organized Sharbat Gulla’s evacuation after she asked to be helped to leave the country. The Italian government will now help to get her integrated into life in Italy. Gulla gained international fame in 1984 after war photographer Steve McCurry’s photograph of her, with piercing green eyes, was published on the cover of National Geographic. In 2014, she surfaced in Pakistan but went into hiding after she was ordered deported. She was flown in 2016 to Kabul where the president handed her keys to a new apartment.