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  "path": "/partner/us-designates-afghanistan-terror-sponsor",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-10T04:15:03.000Z",
  "site": "https://nukta.com",
  "tags": [
    "March 9, 2026",
    "@SecRubio"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday he has designated Afghanistan as a \"State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention,\" demanding Taliban authorities release two Americans and commit to ending its \"hostage diplomacy.\"\n\nThe move comes just over a week after Iran became the first country added to Washington's new \"wrongful detention\" blacklist.\n\nPresident Donald Trump in September signed an executive order that created the blacklist, similar to designations by the United States on terrorism.\n\n\"The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions,\" Rubio said in a statement.\n\n> Today, I am designating Afghanistan as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. The Taliban continue to use terrorist tactics to seek policy concessions, but it won’t work under this administration. The Taliban must release Dennis Coyle, Mahmood Habibi, and all Americans unjustly…\n> — Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 9, 2026\n\n\n\n\nHe said it was \"not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan because the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals.\"\n\n\"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 added.\n\nHabibi, an Afghan-American businessman, previously served as Afghanistan's director of civil aviation.\n\nHe was arrested in August 2022 in Kabul along with dozens of other employees of his telecommunications company, according to US authorities.\n\nThe State Department has issued a reward of $5 million for information leading to Habibi's return.\n\nCoyle is an academic from Colorado who worked for two decades in Afghanistan before being detained in January 2025, according to the James Foley Foundation.",
  "title": "US designates Afghanistan as 'state sponsor of wrongful detention'"
}