Secret negotiations between U.S. officials and the Taliban over remaining American detainees have stalled, after the Taliban publicly tied any further releases to the fate of the last Afghan held at Guantánamo Bay, according to a report by The New York Times published on 26 January 2026.
The Times reported that Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid made the demand in an interview in Kandahar, saying the Taliban wanted two U.S. detainees freed “as soon as possible”, but only alongside clarity on their own prisoner. “We want these two American detainees to be released, and, at the same time, the fate of our detainee who is in Guantánamo should be made clear,” Mujahid told The Times. “Our prisoner should be released.”
The Afghan detainee is Muhammad Rahim, held at Guantánamo since 2008 and described by U.S. authorities as having links to Al Qaeda, the report said. The Times also reported that Rahim has never been charged while in U.S. custody.
U.S. officials have identified the two Americans the Taliban say they hold as Dennis Walter Coyle, an academic detained since January 2025, and Polynesis Jackson, a former U.S. Army soldier. The Trump administration has demanded a third U.S. citizen be included, Mahmood Habibi, whose family says he was detained in 2022, shortly after the killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Kabul, The Times reported.
In Kabul, Afghanistan’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi denied holding Americans for leverage. “We support finding a solution to this issue as soon as possible,” he told The Times. “We never arrest someone to make deals with their country.”
A U.S. State Department spokesperson, quoted by The Times, said, “The Taliban should immediately release Dennis Coyle, Mahmood Habibi and all Americans detained in Afghanistan and end its practice of hostage diplomacy.”
The Times reported that at least five U.S. detainees have been released from Afghanistan in the past year, with the White House saying at least four were freed under President Trump’s second administration, and that none were part of prisoner swaps.
AnewZ contacted Taliban officials for comment on The New York Times report, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
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