The United States on Monday designated Afghanistan a “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention,” as Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the Afghan Taliban of unjustly detaining hostages to use as leverage against Washington.
In a statement posted on X, Rubio said the Taliban continued to use “terrorist tactics” to seek policy concessions, maintaining such efforts would not work under the Donald Trump administration. “The Taliban must release Dennis Coyle, Mahmood Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan,” he added.
Separately, in an official statement issued by the State Department, Rubio warned Americans against travel to Afghanistan. “It is not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan because the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals,” he said, describing the Taliban’s alleged hostage-taking as “despicable tactics” that “need to end.”
Dennis Coyle is a 64-year-old American who was detained by the Afghan Taliban from Kabul in January 2025. His family says he has not been charged with any crime and lacks access to adequate medical care. Habibi, meanwhile, is an American citizen taken from his vehicle in Kabul in August 2022 and allegedly detained by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence.
Rubio’s statement followed U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz telling the United Nations Security Council there was a need to “carefully evaluate the utility of international assistance and engagement in Afghanistan” in light of the “Taliban’s intransigence.” He claimed the U.S. and other countries had invested considerable time and money to “improve Afghanistan’s future,” and urged the UNSC to continue demanding “responsible actions” from the Taliban. “The people of Afghanistan deserve no less,” he added.
According to Waltz, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan “is the largest of any special political mission in the world, even after a reduction in its 2026 budget by 15%.” He urged the UNSC to consider the funds provided for the mission’s budget, noting its female staff were not even allowed to go into office to work under the Taliban’s restrictions on women.
Referring to a reported $1 billion humanitarian funding shortfall at the U.N., Waltz claimed the international community would be “more willing” to fill it if the Taliban were not excluding half of its own population from basic rights and responsibilities.