American academic Dennis Coyle has been released by the Taliban after being held in Afghanistan for over a year. The release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with Afghanistan's foreign ministry stating he was freed in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.
Coyle was detained in January 2025, shortly after the Taliban released another detained American, and was arrested in his apartment in Kabul at that time. Afghan authorities accused him of violating laws but never specified which ones. According to Afghanistan's foreign ministry, the release followed an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan's Supreme Court considered his previous imprisonment sufficient.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release. 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. Mahmood Habibi is 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. Afghan authorities have denied holding Mahmood Habibi.
Paul Overby 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, with his case remaining unresolved.
Both Rubio and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping mediate the release, and mentioned Qatar had also played a role. The United Arab Emirates is said to have acted as a mediator to bring about the release.
According to CBS News, Coyle has spent nearly two decades in Afghanistan, where he engaged in language research, highlighting his long involvement in the country.