Trump administration designates Afghanistan as state sponsor of wrongful detention

Taliban security personnel stand guard near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province, on February 27. (Aimal Zahir/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

The Trump administration on Monday designated Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention – a move meant to deter the Taliban from abducting Americans.

It is the second country to be designated as such, and the announcement comes on Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day. The administration designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention the day before it launched military operations against the country.

“The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Monday. “These despicable tactics need to end.”

“It is not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan because the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals,” Rubio continued.

“The Taliban needs to release Dennis Coyle, Mahmoud Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan now and commit to cease the practice of hostage diplomacy forever,” he said.

Habibi was detained in August 2022. The Taliban has never acknowledged holding him. The State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his location, recovery and safe return.

Habibi’s brother, Ahmad Habibi, said he met with Sebastian Gorka and special envoy Adam Boehler on Monday “and both gave me assurances that President Trump will not leave my brother behind.”

“The Taliban need to admit what we already know – that they have my brother – so we can move forward in bringing him home to his wife and young daughter. The Taliban should not be defying President Trump as he seeks to bring home Americans to their family,” he said.

Coyle was detained in January 2025. His family said he has not been charged with a crime and has been held in solitary confinement.

Rubio met with Coyle’s family on Monday, according to his sister Molly Long, who praised the new designation as a testament to the administration’s commitment to holding the Taliban accountable for her brother’s detention.

“We have great confidence in this administration,” she said in a statement, thanking Gorka and Boehler as well “for prioritizing Dennis’s freedom and for working relentlessly to bring him home safely.”

Families of U.S. citizens who are wrongfully detained or held hostage, as well as returnees, gathered at the State Department Monday for an event marking US Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day.

The designation creates the possibility for the US to impose travel restrictions for Afghanistan.

There is such a travel restriction in place for North Korea. The US does not allow its citizens to travel to North Korea on US passports without an approved exception, and in those cases, the State Department issues a “special validation passport.”

Several Americans detained in Afghanistan were released last year – George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett, William McKenty, and Amir Amiry.