Elizabeth Stickney, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, on Friday renewed calls for the Taliban to release detained Americans, urging them to end their “hostage diplomacy.”
Stickney said the Taliban must “end their policy of hostage-taking,” reiterating President Trump’s demand for the immediate release of Americans still held in Afghanistan.
She added that President Trump is committed to ending unjust detentions abroad.
Referring to the release of Dennis Coyle, Stickney said he joins more than 100 American citizens who have been freed over the past 15 months during Trump’s second term in office.
“We thank the United Arab Emirates for its support and for helping secure Dennis’s release,” she said. “We also appreciate Qatar’s continued support and efforts to advocate for American citizens who have been unjustly detained in Afghanistan.”
Stickney said further steps were needed.
“This is a positive step with the Taliban, but more needs to be done,” she said. “We continue to seek the immediate return of Mahmood Habibi, Paul Overby and other American citizens who have been unjustly detained.”
Her comments came days after the release of Coyle, an American citizen who had been detained in Afghanistan for more than a year.
The issue of detained Americans has been a persistent point of tension between the United States and the Taliban since they returned to power in 2021. The State Department has designated Afghanistan as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” reflecting concerns over the treatment of foreign nationals held in the country.
According to CNN, US officials said nothing was traded or offered to secure Coyle’s release. The network also reported that the United States had sent a letter to the Taliban calling for his humanitarian release.
CNN, citing US officials, reported that the designation of Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention — intended to penalize countries that detain Americans as leverage — played a role in pressuring the Taliban to free him.
That designation will not be lifted, the officials said, as at least two other Americans, Habibi and Overby, remain detained in Afghanistan, according to CNN.
CNN also reported that Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special envoy for Afghanistan, was involved in the process, though a person familiar with the matter said he does not represent the US government. One official described his role as limited and undertaken at the request of the Taliban, CNN reported.
Khalilzad, who previously served as US ambassador to Afghanistan, was a central figure in negotiations with the Taliban during the first Trump administration.
According to CNN, another official said the Taliban had reached out to the United States to inquire about potential consequences of the wrongful detention designation, after which the Taliban appeared to conclude that releasing Coyle could be beneficial.
The Taliban conveyed the decision to Khalilzad, who then traveled to Kabul to accompany Coyle out of the country, CNN reported. The United Arab Emirates was also informed and helped facilitate his departure, including providing transportation, officials said, as quoted by CNN.
Taliban officials have denied that detentions are politically motivated, saying foreign nationals are held in accordance with Afghanistan’s law and released through judicial processes.
Coyle, a 64-year-old academic from Colorado, was taken from his residence in Kabul in January 2025, according to US officials.
