The Taliban-led government of Afghanistan is seeking the release of the final Afghan prisoner held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a proposed prisoner exchange involving two American citizens currently detained in Afghanistan.
In an interview, Taliban chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Kabul wants Washington to release Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani in exchange for the two Americans. “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 stated. “Our prisoner should be released.”
The Afghan detainee referenced by Mujahid is Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, also known as Abdul Basir, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2008. Rahim is the last Afghan national still imprisoned at the facility and remains in indefinite law-of-war detention without charges or trial. U.S. authorities have classified him as a so-called “forever prisoner,” meaning he is deemed too dangerous for release but cannot be prosecuted.
The two American citizens Kabul is seeking to exchange are Dennis Walter Coyle and Polynesis Idren. Coyle, an accountant who had been living in Afghanistan, was arrested on January 26, 2025, by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence. Kabul has confirmed that Idren is also in Afghan custody, though details surrounding the arrest remain limited.
Over the past year, Kabul and Washington have engaged in several prisoner exchanges despite strained relations. In January, two American citizens were released in exchange for Khan Mohammed, who had been serving a federal prison sentence in California. Additional American detainees were released in March, with another freed in September following further negotiations.
Relations between the Kabul and the Trump administration have fluctuated since President Donald Trump returned to office. While talks over detainees have marked areas of limited engagement, tensions resurfaced in September when Trump threatened Afghanistan with “bad things” if Kabul did not return control of Bagram Air Base to the United States. The threat reportedly followed a U.S. delegation’s failed attempt to secure the base’s handover during a visit to Kabul.