A U.S. citizen held in Afghanistan has been freed, the Taliban mentioned Tuesday.
Dennis Coyle, 64, was launched after a letter from his household was despatched requesting his launch on the event of Eid Al-Fitr, the Taliban international ministry mentioned. His interval of detention was then deemed “adequate” and his launch was authorised by a courtroom, in keeping with the ministry.
The Taliban claimed Coyle had been detained for “violating the relevant legal guidelines of Afghanistan.”
US citizen Dennis Coyle (C) waits on the airport in Kabul on March 24, 2026 after the Taliban launched him.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
The U.S. authorities designated Coyle as wrongfully detained.
“At this time, after greater than a yr of captivity in Afghanistan, Dennis Coyle is on his manner residence. President Trump is dedicated to ending unjust detentions abroad – Dennis joins over 100 People who’ve been freed up to now 15 months below his second time period in workplace,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned in assertion Tuesday.
Coyle is a tutorial from Pueblo, Colorado, who had been detained in Afghanistan since Jan. 27, 2025, in keeping with a web site arrange by his household.
He first arrived in Afghanistan within the early 2000s, the place he has labored to survey Afghanistan’s linguistic range and assist communities develop sources in their very own languages, in keeping with his household.
American Dennis Coyle smiles after being launched by Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, who had held him for over a yr, earlier than boarding a airplane on the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 24, 2026.
Mudassir Safi/AP
The Taliban thanked the United Arab Emirates for serving to to facilitate Coyle’s launch.
Earlier this month, U.S. particular envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler mentioned three harmless People have been at the moment being held in Afghanistan.
“Whereas this can be a constructive step by the Taliban, extra work must be executed. We’re nonetheless in search of the speedy return of Mahmood Habibi, Paul Overby, and all different unjustly detained People. The Taliban should finish their follow of hostage diplomacy,” Rubio added.
The household of Habibi applauded the discharge of Coyle in a press release Tuesday.
“We hope that our household will quickly have the identical feeling of reduction, when Mahmood is returned residence to us. The US Authorities has overwhelming proof that the Taliban’s Basic Directorate of Intelligence arrested my brother. Taliban denials of this apparent reality make it unattainable for the folks of Afghanistan to get the international help they want,” Ahmad Habibi, Mahmood Habibi’s brother, mentioned in a press release Tuesday.
This can be a growing story. Please examine again for updates.
