RASC News Agency: According to the international news network WION, the United States of America on Monday, March 9, designated Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as a jurisdiction responsible for “wrongful detentions,” while simultaneously urging Taliban authorities to release two American citizens currently held in the country.
In a sharply worded statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the Taliban’s conduct and called on the group to end what he described as “hostage diplomacy.” Rubio stated that the Taliban continue to detain individuals in order to extract political concessions.
According to WION’s report, Rubio accused the Taliban of employing what he characterized as “terroristic tactics,” asserting that the group detains individuals either to demand ransom payments or to gain leverage in political negotiations.
“The Taliban continue to employ terroristic tactics,” Rubio said in a statement, “detaining individuals to extract ransom or obtain political concessions.”
The U.S. Secretary of State also warned that Afghanistan under Taliban rule cannot be considered safe for American citizens. He argued that Taliban authorities continue to detain U.S. nationals and other foreign citizens unjustly.
Rubio specifically called for the immediate release of Dennis Coyle, Mahmood Habibi, and all other American citizens whom Washington considers to be unjustly detained in Afghanistan. He further urged the Taliban to permanently abandon what he termed a strategy of “hostage diplomacy.”
WION reported that the designation of Afghanistan as a jurisdiction responsible for wrongful detentions comes just over a week after Washington placed Islamic Republic of Iran on a newly established list of governments accused of similar practices.
The list was created under an executive order issued by Donald Trump in September 2025. The policy is intended to address countries or authorities that use the detention of foreign nationals as a tool of political leverage.
According to the report, Mahmood Habibi is an Afghanistani-American citizen who previously served as head of Afghanistan’s civil aviation authority. U.S. officials say he was arrested in August 2022 along with dozens of employees of his telecommunications company roughly one year after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The United States Department of State had earlier offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Habibi’s return to the United States.
The second detainee, Dennis Coyle, is an academic researcher from the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the James Foley Foundation, Coyle has worked in Afghanistan for more than two decades. Taliban authorities reportedly detained him in January 2025.
Washington’s decision to formally categorize Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as responsible for wrongful detentions forms part of a broader U.S. strategy to counter governments or authorities that use the imprisonment of foreign nationals as a bargaining instrument in international relations.
The move comes amid persistent tensions between the United States and the Taliban administration since the group’s return to power in Kabul in 2021, following the collapse of the internationally backed Afghanistan’s government.
