WASHINGTON − Colorado researcher Dennis Coyle is on his way home from Afghanistan after spending more than a year in Taliban captivity, the U.S. government said on March 24.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Coyle's release in a statement.
The Afghan Taliban government said earlier on on March 24 that it had decided to release Coyle in response to a request from his mother.
"The foreign minister said that after a letter from the detainee's family ... theSupreme Court... deemed the period of his detention sufficient and decided to release him," the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
Coyle, a resident of Pueblo, Colorado, was detained in January 2025 while in Afghanistan conducting research on Afghan languages,according to the Pueblo Chieftain, part of the USA TODAY Network.
More:Pueblo man's family fighting to bring him home from Taliban captivity
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"While this is a positive step by the Taliban, more work needs to be done," Rubio said. "The Taliban must end their practice of hostage diplomacy."
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The State Department accused the Taliban of using "terrorist tactics to seek policy concessions" andofficially declaredAfghanistan a state sponsor of wrongful detention on March 9.
The U.S. government is seeking the release of at least two other Americans it has designated as wrongfully detained in Afghanistan: freelance author Paul Overby, who has been missing since May of 2014; and Mahmood Habibi,an Afghan-born U.S. citizenandthe former director of civil aviationin Afghanistan. The U.S. says Habibi was arrested by the Taliban in August of 2022 while working for a Kabul-based telecommunications company.
In a statement, Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd, who represents Pueblo, thanked Rubio and PresidentDonald Trumpfor their work on Coyle's case. "My office will continue working to bring Dennis home safely to his family. No American should be unjustly detained abroad," Hurdwrote on X.
Rubio said in his statement that the United Arab Emirates helped to secure Coyle's release. Qatar has also advocated for the release of Americans in Afghanistan, the U.S. secretary of state said.
According to the State Department, more than 100 wrongfully detained Americans have been released in Trump's second term.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Dennis Coyle released after being held by Taliban in Afghanistan