Dennis Coyle Returns to US After Being Detained in Afghanistan

There’s no place like home for American Dennis Coyle. Coyle is back in the United States after being held captive in Afghanistan for more than a year. Coyle, an academic researcher, arrived in Texas on Wednesday. Watch…

Sandra RhodesMar 25, 20262 min read

Watch:

Loading post…

Coyle was released from detention Tuesday. The Taliban cited a plea from his mother as the impetus.

His family was seen waving to his plane when it landed in San Antonio.

Coyle went to his mother first, giving her a hug and a kiss. He then turned to the rest of his family and gave them with flowers.

His family then gave him a cap, which he quickly put on.

Coyle and his family took a group photo with special envoy Adam Boehler, who thanked President Donald Trump

Sponsored

for his leadership and Coyle’s family for advocating for him.

“We’re so happy to have you home,” Boehler said.

Coyle thanked Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their efforts to bring him home.

“Our family is overjoyed to announce our brother Dennis Coyle is free from the Taliban, ” the family said in a statement to NewsNation earlier this week.

The ministry said Coyle had been released in Kabul following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s Supreme Court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient.”

Coyle was detained in January 2025, however it was never publicly stated what laws he was accused of having violated.

Coyle, who spent nearly 20 years in Afghanistan conducting academic research and assisting the Afghan community, was taken from his home by Taliban forces.

His three sisters and 83-year-old mother did not have any contact with him for nine months before they learned he was alive.

“With each phone call that we get from him, we get more and more desperate to get him home,” his sister, Molly Long, previously told NewsNation.

The family said Coyle was held in a basement and they were concerned about the mental health effects of prolonged isolation.

In an interview with Trump in January, NewsNation asked the president about Coyle.

Trump requested more information and said, “I’ll take care of that,” adding he was “not happy” about anyone being held, “especially if he’s not guilty of anything.”