An American man held by the Taliban for more than a year without charges has been released and is on his way home, Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler told Fox News.
Dennis Coyle, 64, an academic who spent nearly two decades working in Afghanistan, was taken from his home in Kabul in January 2025 by Taliban intelligence and held in near-solitary confinement, Boehler said, adding that Coyle committed no crime and was used as leverage.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Afghanistan a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” accusing the Taliban of unjustly detaining Americans and other foreign nationals like Coyle and calling for his release.
The announcement came after a meeting of Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, US former special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) ambassador to Kabul Saif Mohammed Al-Ketbi, and a member of Coyle’s family.
The UAE facilitated the release, the foreign ministry said, adding that Coyle had been reunited with his family in Kabul on Tuesday.
Coyle, 64, was arrested by the Afghan authorities in January 2025, according to the Foley Foundation, which advocates for the release of Americans taken hostage or arbitrarily detained abroad.
A website set up by his family, freedenniscoyle.com, said he was “legally working to support Afghan communities as an academic researcher” when he was detained.
They said he had been held in “near-solitary conditions, requiring permission even to use the bathroom, and without access to adequate medical care”.
Coyle first travelled to Afghanistan in the early 2000s “to survey Afghanistan’s rich linguistic diversity and help Afghan communities develop resources in their own languages”, they added.
“Throughout his years of service, Dennis maintained a home in Kabul and built deep, meaningful relationships with the Afghan people,” the website read.
“Those who know him speak with profound appreciation for both the man and his work. Dennis has always embraced Afghan culture with genuine warmth — sharing cups of traditional green tea, enjoying dried fruit snacks, and engaging in the kind of heartfelt conversations that bridge cultures,” it said.
“His love for the Afghan people isn’t just professional; it’s personal and deeply felt.”
