U.S.–Taliban Relations

Afghan authorities say they have released U.S. academic Dennis Coyle after more than a year in Taliban custody, and U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler confirmed Coyle — who was taken from his Kabul home in January 2025 and reportedly held in near‑solitary confinement — is on his way home, with photos showing him departing Kabul airport alongside former U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the UAE ambassador. Senator Marco Rubio, who designated Afghanistan a "state sponsor of wrongful detention," praised the return and tied it to the Trump administration’s push to free unjustly detained Americans, while Kabul framed the release as an Eid al‑Fitr gesture, thanked the UAE (and Qatar for mediation), and said its courts found the prior detention sufficient; U.S. officials note other Americans remain unaccounted for.