Dennis Coyle back on US soil after release by Taliban in Afghanistan

March 25, 2026 Daniel Coleman
Dennis Coyle back on US soil after release by Taliban in Afghanistan

American Dennis Coyle is back on U.S. soil, a day after beingreleased by the Afghan Taliban following over a year of captivity.

USA TODAY

Coyle, a Colorado researcher who was detained in January 2025 while in Afghanistan to study languages, was greeted by the cheers and embraces of loved ones, including his mother and sisters, at Joint Base San Antonio as the sun rose March 25.

The Taliban said it decided to release Coyle after a request by his mother and after itsSupreme Court"deemed the period of his detention sufficient."

American Dennis Coyle, who was detained by the Afghan Taliban government for more than year, is greeted as he arrives at Joint Base San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, on March 25, 2026.

Secretary of StateMarco Rubiosaid March 24 that Coyle's release was a "positive" step by the Taliban but that it must end its practice of "hostage diplomacy." The United States declared Afghanistan a state sponsor of wrongful detention earlier in March, urging the Taliban to release Coyle and other hostages.

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Coyle's family thanked PresidentDonald Trump, Rubio and other officials for securing his release.

US soldiers look out over hillsides during a visit of the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan General Scott Miller at the Afghan National Army (ANA) checkpoint in Nerkh district of Wardak province on June 6, 2019. Soldiers play football in front of the Boardwalk as the sun begins to set at Kandahar airfield on Nov. 12, 2014 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Now that British combat operations have ended and the last UK base in Afghanistan had been handed over to the control of Afghan security forces, any remaining troops are leaving the country via Kandahar. As the drawdown of the US-led coalition troops heads into its final stages, many parts of Kandahar airfield - once home to tens of thousands of soldiers and contractors - are being closed or handed over to the Afghans. A soldier with the 3/509th of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division keeps descends from a guard tower at Forward Operating Base Zerok Oct. 7, 2009 in Zerok, Afghanistan. The soldiers at FOB Zerok, which has been attacked repeatedly from the surrounding hostile countryside of Paktika province, keep an extensive 24 hour a day watch from several locations to guard the base. October 7th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001; eight years later, thousands of American and international troops are camped out in field bases around the war-torn country. U.S. Army Engineer Staff Sgt. Rick Atkinson of Roswell, New Mexico plays with a puppy that soldiers of Forward Operating Base Zerok adopted a few weeks ago Oct. 7, 2009 in Zerok, Afghanistan. Oct. 7th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001; eight years later, thousands of American and international troops are camped out in field bases around the war-torn country.

Afghanistan: America's longest war

"Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Dennis' life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 421 days of our lives," Coyle's family said in a statement to thePueblo Chieftain, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY; Zach Hillstrom, the Pueblo Chieftain; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Dennis Coyle back on US soil after release by Taliban in Afghanistan

 

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