POLITICS — March 24, 2026
Taliban Release US Prisoner Daniel Quiil After Family Letter to Leader
The Taliban released US citizen Daniel Quiil following a family plea, prompting criticism from Ata Mohammad Noor over the continued detention of thousands of Afghans. Human rights groups highlight unfair trials and mistreatment of prisoners, including journalists.
The Ehtebar Desk — originates with Afghanistan International — 2 min read
The Taliban released American prisoner Daniel Quiil on Tuesday, according to an announcement from the Taliban Foreign Ministry. The ministry stated that the release followed a letter sent by Quiil's family to the Taliban leader.
Ata Mohammad Noor criticized the move in a statement, saying the Taliban acted out of fear of the United States while keeping thousands of innocent Afghans imprisoned. He accused the Taliban of detaining people for linguistic, ethnic or ideological reasons.
Noor highlighted that over the past five years, the Taliban have arrested and imprisoned thousands on charges of opposing the regime, participating in street protests or supporting opposition fronts. Among them are journalists held in Bagram prison for several years.
Human rights organizations have stated that most prisoners were detained due to ideological opposition to the Taliban. They report a lack of access to lawyers and unfair trial processes.
The Taliban face accusations of torturing detained journalists and extracting forced confessions. The Afghanistan Journalists Center stated last year that Taliban intelligence forced a confession from Mehdi Ansari, a reporter for the Afghan News Agency. Ansari was released last week after 28 Hoot.
Read the original reporting at Afghanistan International →
Reliability assessment
Single source provides direct, on-record attributions including Taliban Foreign Ministry announcement of Daniel Quiil's release, Ata Mohammad Noor's statement, Afghanistan Journalists Center statement, with concrete checkable details (names: Daniel Quiil, Mehdi Ansari; location: Bagram; timing: Tuesday 2026-03-24, last week 28 Hoot). 'X said Y' claims are verifiable regardless of content.
The source language mixes facts with framing or advocacy wording. Afghanistan International: 'thousands of innocent people' – emotionally frames prisoners as blameless victims; 'Taliban's retreat and fear' – portrays Taliban as cowardly in submission to US; 'tortured' and 'forced confessions' – accusatory language implying systematic abuse.
Independent web corroboration
A separate web search returned 8 matching reports. A selection:
In January, a Taliban official told the New York Times it was prepared to release two Americans in exchange for an Afghan national and accused al-Qaeda courier held in Guantanamo Bay.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government on Tuesday freed an American researcher, Dennis Walter Coyle, who had been held there for over a year, amid pressure from the Trump administration to release Americans who it says are being held without ...
That designation will not be lifted, the officials added, as there are at least two other US citizens who remain detained there: Habibi and Overby. Former Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad was also involved, the officials said, though the person familiar with the matter stressed that he does not work for or represent the US government. One of the officials described his involvement as minimal and at the request of the Taliban.
US citizen Dennis Coyle (C) waits at the airport in Kabul on March 24, 2026 after the Taliban released him. ... A U.S. citizen held in Afghanistan for over a year has been freed, the Taliban said Tuesday.
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Afghanistan International
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Framed
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Politics — Ata Mohammad Noor, Taliban, Daniel Quiil, Bagram prison, Mehdi Ansari
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