The Taliban released an American citizen who had been held in Afghanistan for more than a year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday.
Rubio said in a statement that Dennis Coyle, an academic originally from Colorado, “is on his way home” after more than a year in captivity. According to information compiled by his family, Coyle, who is in his 60s, had a home in Kabul and had spent about two decades in Afghanistan researching the country’s languages.
Coyle was wrongfully detained without charges by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence in January 2025, according to his family, who said he was held in near-solitary conditions without access to medical care.
Coyle’s release comes about two weeks after Rubio designated Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention. The designation was created by President Donald Trump through a September executive order that gives the secretary of state the authority to impose sanctions, travel restrictions and other limits on countries with a history of wrongfully detaining and failing to release U.S. citizens. Iran was the first such country to be designated as such last month.
“It is not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan because the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals,” Rubio said when he announced the designation of Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the group has detained and released several Americans.
The State Department designated Coyle as wrongfully detained last June, which triggered a series of high-level diplomatic negotiations and dedicated resources to secure a designated person’s release. In a post on X on Tuesday, Rubio said he met members of Coyle’s family earlier this month and called Coyle’s release “a positive step towards ending the practice of hostage diplomacy.” He thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping to secure Coyle’s release and Qatar for its “continued support and advocacy for Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan” in a statement. Rubio also called for the immediate release of other wrongfully detained Americans, including Mahmood Habibi, a businessman abducted from his car in Kabul in August 2022, and Paul Overby, a writer last seen in Khost City, near the Pakistan border, in May 2014
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C. Recommended
