Afghan girl who garnered world fame for National Geographic magazine cover flees as a refugee to Italy

An Afghan woman who gained international prominence years ago by being photographed as a child on the cover of National Geographic magazine

She arrived in Italy this week as a refugee after escaping from the Taliban regime, the Italian government reported on Thursday.

The office of Prime Minister Mario Draghi reported that Italy arranged the evacuation of

The Italian government will now help to integrate it into the life of the country, according to its statement.

A copy of a magazine with the photograph of the Afghan refugee Sharbat Gulla in the Pakistani Inam Kham's bookstore in October 2016.BK Bangash / AP

Gulla gained international fame in 1984 thanks to the image captured by

photographer Steve McCurry;

By then, Afghanistan was waging a guerrilla war against the Soviet Union, which had invaded and occupied the Asian country.

McCurry found her again in 2014, when Afghanistan was controlled by the United States.

The woman had traveled to Pakistan but was deported after being accused of buying a false identity document.

She was flown to Kabul, the Afghan capital, where the president hosted a reception at his palace and handed her the keys to a new apartment.

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Italy was one of several Western countries that airlifted hundreds of Afghans from the country following the departure of US forces and the Taliban seizure of power in August.

Gulla poses for a photo during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul on November 9, 2016. Rahmat Gul / AP

In a statement announcing Gulla's arrival in Rome, the Italian government said that his photograph in 1984 "symbolized the vicissitudes of history that Afghanistan and the conflict that its people were going through at that time."

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He assured that he had received requests "from civil society and, in particular, from non-profit organizations working in Afghanistan" supporting Gulla's request for help to escape.

Italy organized his trip "as part of the broader evacuation program for Afghan citizens and the government's plan for their reception and integration," according to the statement.