The Taliban government in Afghanistan announced on Tuesday that it had released an American citizen who had been imprisoned in the country for more than a year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that he agreed to be released after a letter from his family, and that Dennis Coyle they will be “forgiven and released” on Eid, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The US State Department later confirmed Coyle’s release.
“Today, our hearts are filled with deep gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Dennis’ life and bringing him home after 421 challenging and uncertain days of our lives,” Coyle’s family said in a statement first shared with CBS News.
A Taliban official who participated in the prisoner talks told CBS News that the Taliban and the US have been in talks since last week of February.
Wakil KOHSAR / AFP via Getty Images
Coyle, a 64-year-old academic from Colorado, was forcibly taken from his apartment in Kabul by the Taliban. His capture occurred six days after another American, Ryan Corbettit was released at the beginning of President Trump’s second term.
Coyle’s family said they were “very grateful” to Mr. Trump, Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio and others in the administration, the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and all their aides and invitees. “Your efforts as mediators, your compassion, and your commitment to mediation have given our family the most precious gift imaginable: Dennis’ freedom,” the family wrote.
Hours after his release, Coyle arrived in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Coyle was released “on the basis of humanitarian sensitivity and goodwill, and believes that such measures can further strengthen the atmosphere of trust between the countries,” the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its statement, adding that Kabul “again 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 sponsor of wrongful imprisonment.
“Earlier this month, I met with Molly, Amy, and Patti when they asked for help to free their brother Dennis Coyle from captivity in Afghanistan,” wrote Secretary of State Marco Rubio on social media. “Today, Dennis is on his way back home…. The release is a positive step towards ending the practice of hostage negotiation.”
Dennis Coyle’s family 
Coyle, who spent nearly two decades in Afghanistan conducting language research, was being held by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence in solitary confinement without charge, according to his family. Coyle’s capture shortly after Corbett’s release shows the continued danger Americans face in Afghanistan, even those with long-standing legal status and deep ties to local communities.
Last June, the US government officially designated Coyle as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery Act and the Hostage Accountability Act, a situation that opens up the government’s chosen tools and raises the importance of efforts to secure his release.
The United States does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and does not have diplomatic ties to the country, complicating the release talks that are often facilitated by Qatar as a mediator on behalf of the US.
According to a source familiar with the release, the Qatari delegation visited Coyle regularly to check on his health and to facilitate communication between him and his family.
Those efforts included a visit over Christmas where Qatari officials met with Coyle and delivered a message from his family, and another meeting last month when he handed them a letter he wrote to his mother.
The Biden administration held talks with the Taliban to exchange Americans held in Afghanistan for Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, a Guantanamo Bay detainee suspected of working with Osama bin Laden, but the talks ultimately failed. US officials have proposed releasing Rahim in exchange for George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Afghan-American Mahmoud Habibi, who was kidnapped in 2022. The Taliban protested that they wanted Rahim and two others while denying that they had captured Habibi.
The Taliban continue to hold the remains of American Paul Overby, one civilian who has not been named and remains in critical condition, and Habibi – although the Taliban have never admitted his guilt.
In a statement released to CBS News on Tuesday, Habibi’s family applauded Coyle’s release.
“My family and I are grateful to hear the news about Dennis’ release,” said his brother Ahmad Habibi in a statement. “We hope that our family will soon have the same sense of relief, when Mahmood is returned home to us. The US government has overwhelming evidence that the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence has arrested my brother. The Taliban’s denial of this obvious fact makes it difficult for the people of Afghanistan to get the foreign aid they need.”
Coyle’s family wrote, “We always remember the many families who are still waiting for their loved ones to return, including the families of Mahmoud Habibi and Paul Overby. We hoped that Dennis, Mahmoud Habibi, and Paul Overby would be returned together to their families, and we cannot imagine the pain that our luck will bring them. All Americans who are held should be released soon.”
A Taliban official who spoke to CBS News on Tuesday said Rahim “should have been released by now, but unfortunately the US side has not done anything about its previous promises and commitments.”
With the help of Qatari negotiators, Corbett and another American, William McKenty, were released last January in exchange for a Taliban figure serving a life sentence on drug-trafficking charges. Glezmann and another one American, Faye Hall, was released in March, a fifth American, Amir Amiri, was followed released last September.
The State Department did is given a $5 million reward for information leading to Habibi’s return.
