Afghanistan's Taliban government has released a 64-year-old American man of Afghan descent who had been detained for over a year, following intense pressure from the Trump administration.
On 24 Mar 2026 GMT+7, the Taliban released Dennis Walter Coile, a 64-year-old American citizen, after he had been held for more than a year amid pressure from President Donald Trump's administration.
Coile had been living in Afghanistan since the early 2000s to study Afghan linguistics and assist communities in developing their local language resources. He was arrested in January last year; his relatives stated he was never charged with any crime.
Although Afghan authorities previously claimed during his detention that he violated unspecified laws, they did not provide further details.
In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had "submitted a petition for his release," and the Supreme Court ruled that Coile's imprisonment was "sufficient." He was granted a pardon in celebration of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.
The U.S. government, which recently designated Afghanistan as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” welcomed the release but continued to call for the freeing of other American citizens unjustly held.
When the BBC asked Coile how he felt after his release, he briefly replied that he was feeling well.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in a press release, “Today, after being detained in Afghanistan for over a year, Dennis Coile is on his way home.”
The statement added, “President Trump is committed to ending wrongful detention abroad. Dennis is the latest American among more than 100 who have been released in the past 15 months during his second term.”
The U.S. State Department said Coile’s release was supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Saif Al Gatabi, the UAE’s special envoy to Afghanistan, traveled to Kabul airport to attend the release ceremony and told the BBC that the release resulted from negotiations between Washington and Kabul.
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Source:BBC