KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities on Tuesday released American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the foreign ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul, the country’s capital, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s Supreme Court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient.”

Coyle, from Pueblo, was detained in January 2025 on allegations of violating laws, although Afghan authorities never publicly stated what laws he was accused of having violated.

He is an academic researcher who has done linguistic work in Afghanistan for the better part of two decades, Coyle’s family in Colorado previously told The Gazette.

“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,” the Coyle family said in a statement on freedenniscoyle.com. “We are profoundly grateful to President Trump and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio.

The Coyle family noted the bipartisan effort that went into Dennis Coyle’s return.

“To our many champions on the Hill, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch, Senator John Cornyn, Senator Mark Kelly, and Senator John Hickenlooper, also Congressman Abe Hamadeh, Congressman Jeff Hurd, Congressman J. French Hill, and Congressman Jeff Crank — you never gave up on Dennis and are a testament to what we can achieve when we work together across party lines,” the family stated on its website.

Coyle traveled to Afghanistan in the early 2000s to conduct language research, according to his family. While there, he developed deep ties within the local community and an abiding affection for the Afghan people.

“Dennis has always embraced Afghan culture with genuine warmth — sharing cups of traditional green tea, enjoying dried fruit snacks, and engaging in the kind of heartfelt conversations that bridge cultures,” his family said on its website. “His love for the Afghan people isn’t just professional; it’s personal and deeply felt.”

In a separate statement, the ministry indicated the United Arab Emirates and Qatar had helped mediate Coyle’s release, and said Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had met in Kabul with former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad ahead of the release.

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department announced the designation of Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing it of engaging in “hostage diplomacy.” Afghanistan joined Iran as countries singled out by the United States for detaining Americans in hopes of extracting policy concessions.

Afghanistan’s government rejected U.S. allegations that it detains foreigners to obtain leverage over other countries, saying Afghan authorities arrest people for violating laws not to make a deal.

Afghanistan released Coyle “based on humanitarian sympathy and goodwill, and believes that such steps can further strengthen the atmosphere of trust between countries,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement, adding that Kabul “also expresses the hope that both countries will find solutions to the remaining problems through understanding and constructive dialogue in the future.”

The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment on Coyle’s release.

Afghan authorities are believed to hold at least one other U.S. national. Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company, vanished in the country in 2022.

The FBI and Habibi’s family have said they believe he was taken by Taliban forces, but Afghan authorities have denied holding him.

Habibi’s brother, Ahmad Habibi, welcomed Coyle’s release but said in a statement that “we hope that our family will soon have the same feeling of relief, when Mahmood is returned home to us.”

The Gazette’s Nick Smith contributed to this report.