The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland

WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

A U.S. official says Monday that the citizen and the citizen’s children “successfully departed Afghanistan using an overland route” and were met by American Embassy staff at the border. The official would not speak to details of the evacuation or to the country in which they arrived, citing security reasons and the need to preserve the viability of the route for possible future efforts.

The evacuation is the first overland extraction the U.S. government has confirmed since it ended its air evacuation effort last week with the final withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

— By Matthew Lee

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MORE ON AFGHANISTAN:

— Taliban say they took Panjshir, last holdout Afghan province

— Over 24 hours in Kabul, brutality, trauma, moments of grace

— US: Afghan evacuees who fail initial screening Kosovo-bound

— Rescue groups: US tally misses hundreds left in Afghanistan

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban say they have taken control of Panjshir province north of Kabul, the Afghan capital.

The province was the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their sweep of Afghanistan last month.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement Monday, saying Panjshir was now under control of Taliban fighters.

Thousands of Taliban fighters overran eight districts of Panjshir overnight, according to witnesses from the area. The anti-Taliban fighters had been led by the former vice president and the son of the iconic anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was killed by a suicide bomber just days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.