Afghanistan's Taliban authorities on Tuesday released American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the Foreign Ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul, the country's capital, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan's Supreme Court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient.”
Coyle was detained in January 2025. Afghan authorities accused him of violating laws, but never specified which ones.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release.
“President (Donald) Trump is committed to ending unjust detentions overseas – Dennis joins over 100 Americans who have been freed in the past 15 months under his second term in office,” Rubio said in a statement. “While this is a positive step by the Taliban, more work needs to be done,” he added.
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Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department announced the designation of Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing it of engaging in “hostage diplomacy.” Afghanistan joined Iran as countries singled out by the United States for detaining Americans in hopes of extracting policy concessions.
Afghanistan rejected U.S. allegations that it detains foreigners to obtain leverage over other countries, saying Afghan authorities arrest people for violating laws not to make a deal.
The State Department said earlier this month that the Taliban was believed to hold at least four U.S. nationals, including Coyle and Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company.
The FBI and Habibi’s family have said they believe he was taken by Taliban forces in 2022, but Afghan authorities have denied holding him.
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Habibi’s brother, Ahmad Habibi, welcomed Coyle’s release but said in a statement that “we hope that our family will soon have the same feeling of relief, when Mahmood is returned home to us.”
Rubio also mentioned another American, Paul Overby, who is listed on the FBI's missing persons website as having disappeared in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province in mid-2014 while conducting research for a book he was writing.
“We are still seeking the immediate return of Mahmood Habibi, Paul Overby, and all other unjustly detained Americans,” Rubio said. “The Taliban must end their practice of hostage diplomacy.”
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said his country “has not arrested citizens of any country to achieve political goals,” according to a statement released by the ministry. Coyle, he said, had been released “after going through the judicial process as a result of violating the laws.”
Both Rubio and Muttaqi thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping mediate the release, and mentioned Qatar had also played a role. The foreign ministry said Muttaqi had met in Kabul with former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad ahead of the release.
Afghanistan released Coyle “based on humanitarian sympathy and goodwill, and believes that such steps can further strengthen the atmosphere of trust between 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.”
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops, nearly 20 years after they were ousted from power in a U.S.-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
