Taliban release US citizen Dennis Coyle more than a year after his detention

The Taliban government of Afghanistan announced on Tuesday the release of a US citizen who had been detained since January 2025.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that he accepted the release following a letter from his family, and that Dennis Coyle “he would be pardoned and released” for Eid, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The US State Department later confirmed Coyle’s release.

A senior Taliban official involved in the prisoner negotiations told News themezone that the Taliban and the United States have been holding talks since the last week of February.

Coyle, a 64-year-old academic from Colorado, was forcibly removed from his apartment in Kabul by the Taliban. His kidnapping occurred just six days after another American, Ryan Corbettwas published at the beginning of President Trump’s second term.

Coyle was released “based on humanitarian sympathy and goodwill, and believes that such measures can further strengthen the atmosphere of trust between the countries,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement, adding that Kabul “also expresses the hope that both countries will find solutions to the remaining problems through understanding and constructive dialogue in the future.”

Earlier this month, the US State Department announced the designation of Afghanistan as a country wrongful detention sponsor.

“Earlier this month, I met with Molly, Amy and Patti when they asked for help in freeing their brother Dennis Coyle from detention in Afghanistan,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on social media. “Today, Dennis is on his way home… The release is a positive step toward ending the practice of hostage diplomacy.”

Coyle, who spent nearly two decades in Afghanistan conducting linguistic research, was being held by the Taliban’s General Intelligence Directorate in near-solitary confinement without charges being filed, according to his family. Coyle’s capture so soon after Corbett’s release illustrates the ongoing risks Americans face in Afghanistan, even those with long-standing legal status and deep ties to local communities.

Last June, the U.S. government officially designated Coyle as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Accountability Act, a status that unlocks select government tools and elevates the priority of efforts to secure his release.

The United States does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and lacks a diplomatic presence in the country, complicating liberation negotiations that Qatar often conducts as an intermediary on behalf of the United States.

According to a source with knowledge of the statement, a Qatari team periodically visited Coyle to check on his health and facilitate communication between him and his family.

Those efforts included a visit around Christmas when Qatari officials met with Coyle and conveyed a message from his family, and another meeting last month when he gave them a letter he wrote to his mother.

The Biden administration held negotiations with the Taliban to exchange Americans detained in Afghanistan for Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, a Guantanamo Bay detainee who had allegedly been an associate of Osama bin Laden, but the talks ultimately collapsed. U.S. officials proposed releasing Rahim in exchange for George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Afghan-American Mahmoud Habibi, who was kidnapped in 2022. The Taliban responded by searching for Rahim and two others, although they denied they were holding Habibi.

The Taliban continue to hold the remains of American Paul Overby, a citizen whose name has not been identified and whose circumstances remain unclear, and Habibi, although the Taliban have never acknowledged his case.

In a statement issued to News themezone on Tuesday, Habibi’s family applauded Coyle’s release.

“My family and I are grateful to hear the news of Dennis’ release,” his brother Ahmad Habibi said in a statement. “We hope our family will soon have the same sense of relief when Mahmood returns home to us. The US government has overwhelming evidence that the Taliban’s General Intelligence Directorate arrested my brother. The Taliban’s denials of this obvious fact make it impossible for the people of Afghanistan to get the foreign aid they need.”

The Taliban official who spoke to News themezone on Tuesday said Rahim “should have already been released, but unfortunately the American side has yet to fulfill its previous promises and commitments.”

With the help of Qatari negotiators, Corbett and another American, William McKenty, were freed last January in exchange for a Taliban figure who had been sentenced to life in prison on drug trafficking charges. Glezmann and other American, Faye Hall, were released in March, followed by a fifth American, Amir Amiri, who was released last September.

The State Department has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Habibi’s return.