The Taliban release American academic Dennis Coyle after more than a year in detention (Image source: AP)
On Tuesday, the Afghan Taliban authorities released American academic Dennis Coyle, who had been detained for more than a year, in a move welcomed by Washington but accompanied by renewed American demands for the return of other Americans believed to still be in the country.The Afghan Foreign Ministry said that Cowell was released in Kabul on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr after an appeal from his family and after the Supreme Court deemed his previous imprisonment sufficient. The ministry said the release was based on “human sympathy and good faith.”
The release is subject to appeal and judicial review
The Taliban said that Coyle, an academic researcher, had been detained since January 2025 and was released after undergoing judicial procedures.
According to the Associated Press news agency, Afghan authorities have accused him of violating laws, but have not publicly identified the laws he allegedly violated.The State Department said Quayle was released after an appeal by his family and after Afghanistan’s Supreme Court deemed his previous imprisonment sufficient.The ministry also said Afghanistan believed such steps could “enhance a climate of trust between countries” and expressed hope that Kabul and Washington would resolve the remaining issues through “understanding and constructive dialogue.”
The Taliban leader personally ordered his release
According to The New York Times, Afghan leader Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada personally ordered Quayle’s release after his family wrote to him seeking clemency on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.Coyle, 64, is from Colorado and has worked in Afghanistan for more than 20 years researching languages.The Coyle family’s website said he had not been charged with a crime and was being held in “semi-solitary conditions.” The US State Department classified him as wrongfully detained in June.
Rubio She welcomes her release but says more Americans remain detained
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release but made clear that Washington still expects the Taliban to return other Americans.In a post on the
In separate statements, Rubio said, “President (Donald) Trump is committed to ending unfair detentions abroad, and Dennis joins more than 100 Americans who have been released over the past 15 months as part of his second term in office.”“Although this is a positive step by the Taliban, there is still more work to be done,” Rubio added.Rubio also said: “We continue to seek the immediate return of Mahmoud Habibie, Paul Overby, and all other Americans wrongfully detained.
The Taliban must end its practice of hostage diplomacy.”
Taliban rejects charge of “hostage diplomacy”
This release comes just weeks after the United States sharply escalated its pressure on Kabul.Earlier this month, the US State Department designated Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing it of engaging in “hostage diplomacy.” Afghanistan is grouped alongside Iran as a country designated to detain Americans in the hopes of extracting political concessions.Afghanistan rejected this accusation.Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki said that his country “has not arrested citizens of any country to achieve political goals” and insisted that Cowell be released only after he was subjected to judicial procedures on charges of “violating the laws.”Rubio had classified Afghanistan as a “state sponsor of illegal detention” this month, and accused the Taliban government of “kidnapping individuals to obtain ransom or to obtain political concessions.”
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar helped broker his release
Both sides acknowledged regional mediation in securing Cowell’s freedom.Rubio and Mottaki thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping to mediate the release of the prisoners, and said that Qatar also played a role.The Taliban Foreign Ministry said that Mottaki met in Kabul with former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad before his release.Khalilzad traveled to Kabul to hand over power and described Cowell’s release as a “very positive development” and a “good decision” by the Afghan government.Cowell left Afghanistan on Tuesday afternoon on a plane bound for the United Arab Emirates, where Emirati officials facilitated the transfer.
The focus shifts to other missing or detained Americans
Washington says other Americans are still missing in Afghanistan.The State Department said earlier this month that the Taliban were believed to be holding at least four American citizens, including Quayle and Mahmoud Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company.The FBI and Habibie’s family believe Taliban forces kidnapped him in 2022, but Afghan authorities deny holding him.Ahmed Habibi, Habibi’s brother, welcomed Cowell’s release, but said: “We hope that our family will soon feel the same sense of relief when Mahmoud returns to our home.”Rubio reported that Paul Overby, listed on the FBI’s missing persons website, disappeared in Khost Province in 2014 while searching for a book.The New York Times identified him as Paul Edwin Overby Jr., a Massachusetts author who was last seen in southeastern Afghanistan.
A possible exchange request related to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility
An Afghan government spokesman said earlier this year that Kabul was ready to release American citizens, but wanted to release an Afghan detainee held at Guantanamo Bay in return.The newspaper said that this detainee is Muhammad Rahim, whom the United States accuses of being a member of Al-Qaeda and a correspondent and translator for Osama bin Laden.Raheem’s lawyer, James Connell III, said on Tuesday: “Raheem is a 60-year-old man who has been imprisoned for 18 years without being charged with a crime. He poses no threat to anyone and should be released from Guantanamo.”The New York Times reported that one of Rahim’s sons, Mohammad Ibrahim Rahimi, attended Quayle’s release at Kabul airport and asked Khalilzad to deliver a letter to Donald Trump demanding his father’s release.Quayle’s release comes against a backdrop of severe tension in US-Taliban relations since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of US forces, nearly 20 years after they were first ousted in the US-led invasion following the September 11 attacks.While Tuesday’s release may ease tensions slightly, Washington’s statements and the unresolved cases of other Americans suggest the issue of detentions will remain a central flashpoint in US-Afghanistan relations.
