Marco Rubio designates Afghanistan as state sponsor of wrongful detention

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the Taliban of “unfairly” detaining Americans and other foreign nationals, designating Afghanistan as a “state that supports wrongful detention.”

In his announcement on Monday, Rubio said the Taliban continues to use “terrorist tactics” that he insists “must end.”

“I nominate Afghanistan as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detentions,” Rubio said in a statement. “The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics by kidnapping individuals for ransom or seeking policy concessions. These despicable tactics must end.”

The secretary also called on the terror group to release a pair of Americans “unjustly detained” in Afghanistan.

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“It is not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan as the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals,” he said. “The Taliban must immediately release Dennis Coyle, Mahmoud Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan, and commit to stopping the practice of hostage diplomacy once and for all.”

His family noted that 64-year-old Coyle was detained without charge by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence more than a year ago and that he has still not been charged. His family said he was legally working as an academic researcher to support Afghan language communities.

Habibi, a 38-year-old American citizen born in Afghanistan, was kidnapped from a vehicle in the capital Kabul with his driver in August 2022 by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The FBI said Habibi was previously Afghanistan’s director of civil aviation and worked for Kabul-based telecommunications company Asia Consultancy Group. The FBI said the Taliban detained 29 more employees of the company but released most of them.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Taliban continues to use “terrorist tactics” that he insists “must stop.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Habibi has not been heard from since his arrest, and the Taliban has not disclosed his whereabouts or condition, according to the State Department and FBI. The Taliban had previously denied detaining Habibi.

The United States is also calling for the return of the remains of writer Paul Overby, who was last seen near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in 2014, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the situation.

The State Department may restrict the use of U.S. passports for travel to Afghanistan if the Taliban does not meet the U.S. government’s demands, the sources said.

This type of passport restriction currently only applies to North Korea.

The Taliban called Rubio’s decision to describe Afghanistan as a “state supporting wrongful detention” regrettable and added that it wanted to resolve the issue through dialogue.

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The Taliban described the decision to designate Afghanistan as a “state supporting false detention” as regrettable. (Reuters/Ali Khara)

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The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 during the chaotic withdrawal of the US military from the country, which ended a 20-year war in the region.

Rubio called Iran a “state supporting unjust detention” late last month, just a day before the US-Israeli attack on the country. He warned that the US may restrict travel to Iran due to its detention of US citizens, but there have been no restrictions yet.

“The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all Americans wrongfully detained in Iran, steps that could end this designation and related actions,” Rubio said at the time.

Reuters contributed to this report.