MOSCOW(Sputnik) — On October 23, Pakistani authorities arrested Gula who was allegedly in possession of fake documents, and living illegally in Pakistan. Following the arrest, Afghan authorities repeatedly called on their Pakistani counterparts to release the woman.
According to Geo TV broadcaster, Gula crossed the Afghan-Pakistani border earlier on Wednesday, and was expected to head for Kabul to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The Afghan authorities have also promised to provide her with a new home.
In 1984, Gula was photographed by Steve McCurry. The image depicting a young refugee girl with green eyes in a red scarf featured on the June 1985 renowned cover of National Geographic and became worldwide famous. Since then, Gula has been commonly refereed in the media as the "Afghan girl" or the "green eyed girl," though her name was identified in early 2000s.