UAE facilitated release of US researcher Dennis Coyle, says foreign ministry
\n KABUL
\nAfghanistan\u2019s Taliban government announced on Tuesday that it was freeing a US national who had been detained for more than a year.
\nThe foreign ministry said the family of linguist and researcher Dennis Coyle had written to the supreme leader of Afghanistan, requesting his release for Eid. \u201cThe Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate deemed his period of detention sufficient and decided on his release,\u201d a statement read.
\nThe announcement came after a meeting of Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, US former special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, the UAE ambassador to Kabul Saif Mohammed Al-Ketbi, and a member of Coyle\u2019s family.
\nThe UAE facilitated the release, the ministry said, adding that Coyle had been reunited with his family in Kabul on Tuesday.
\nCoyle, 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.
\nA website set up by his family, freedenniscoyle.com, said he was \u201clegally working to support Afghan communities as an academic researcher\u201d when he was detained.
\nThey said he had been held in \u201cnear-solitary conditions, requiring permission even to use the bathroom, and without access to adequate medical care\u201d.
\nCoyle first travelled to Afghanistan in the early 2000s \u201cto survey Afghanistan\u2019s rich linguistic diversity and help Afghan communities develop resources in their own languages\u201d, they added.
\n\u201cThroughout his years of service, Dennis maintained a home in Kabul and built deep, meaningful relationships with the Afghan people,\u201d the website read.
\n\u201cThose who know him speak with profound appreciation for both the man and his work. Dennis has always embraced Afghan culture with genuine warmth\u2013sharing cups of traditional green tea, enjoying dried fruit snacks, and engaging in the kind of heartfelt conversations that bridge cultures.
\n\u201cHis love for the Afghan people isn\u2019t just professional; it\u2019s personal and deeply felt.\u201d
\nEarlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States had formally placed Afghanistan on its list of countries engaged in \u201cwrongful detentions\u201d.
\nThe Afghan authorities called that \u201cregrettable\u201d and pointed to talks between the two sides and previous releases with mediators from Qatar.
\nIn 2025, five American citizens were released in what the Taliban authorities said was a \u201cgoodwill gesture\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UAE facilitated release of US researcher Dennis Coyle, says foreign ministry KABUL Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban government announced on Tuesday that it was freeing a US national who had been detained for more than a year. The foreign ministry said the family of linguist and researcher Dennis Coyle had written to the supreme leader of Afghanistan, requesting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-538065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n