KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United States has designated Afghanistan under Taliban control as a “state sponsor of wrongful detentions,” accusing the Taliban of holding foreign nationals for ransom or to seek political concessions.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision in a statement on Monday, calling on the Taliban to immediately release Americans held in the country and end what he described as “hostage diplomacy.”
“The Taliban continue to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions,” Rubio said. “These despicable tactics need to end.”
Rubio also warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Afghanistan, saying the country remains unsafe and that the Taliban continues to unjustly detain Americans and other foreign nationals.
“The Taliban needs to release Dennis Coyle, Mahmoud Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan now and commit to ceasing the practice of hostage diplomacy forever,” Rubio said.
The designation follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in September 2025 authorizing the State Department to label countries involved in the wrongful detention of American nationals as “state sponsors of wrongful detention.” The measure allows Washington to impose sanctions, export restrictions, and travel limitations. The country applied a similar designation to Iran last month.
The move comes as the Taliban reportedly continues to hold at least three U.S. citizens, including Coyle, a 64-year-old academic from Colorado who spent nearly two decades conducting linguistic research in Afghanistan. According to U.S. officials, he was detained by Taliban intelligence agents at his apartment in Kabul in January 2025 and has remained in custody for more than a year. Officials say no formal charges have been publicly filed against him.
U.S. officials also believe Mahmoud Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman who disappeared in Kabul in 2022, is being held by the Taliban, though Taliban authorities have repeatedly denied holding him. In June, Washington offered a reward of up to $5 million for information about his whereabouts.
Another American believed to be held by the Taliban is a former U.S. Army soldier, according to U.S. officials, though further details about the case have not been publicly disclosed.
The Taliban has a history of detaining Westerners to secure prisoner exchanges or concessions. In January 2025, it released Americans Ryan Corbett and William McKenty in exchange for Taliban member Khan Mohammad, serving a life sentence in the U.S. for narco-terrorism.
In March 2025, George Glezmann was freed following a visit to Kabul by U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler, after which Washington lifted multimillion-dollar bounties on Taliban leaders, including $10 million for Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and $5 million each for Abdul Aziz Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani.
Earlier exchanges include a 2022 deal in which the U.S. released Taliban financier and drug trafficker Bashir Noorzai in exchange for American engineer Mark Frerichs, who had been held by the Taliban for over two years.
Western governments, including the US, Britain, Canada, Australia, and Germany, continue to advise their citizens against traveling to Afghanistan, citing persistent risks of terrorism, kidnapping, and arbitrary detention under Taliban rule.
