Afghanistan American Released
Accompanied by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, right, and UAE Ambassador in Kabul Saif Al Ketbi,, left, American Dennis Coyle, center, smiles after being released by Afghanistan's Taliban authorities, who had held him for over a year, before boarding a plane at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Afghanistan’s Taliban government says that authorities have released American academic Dennis Coyle, held in Afghanistan since January 2025. A statement from the country’s foreign ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul, the country’s capital, on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday following Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. It said the release followed an appeal from his family and after the country’s Supreme Court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient.” Coyle was detained in January 2025 on allegations of violating laws, although Afghan authorities never publicly stated what laws he was accused of having violated.
