KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Tuesday rejected U.S. allegations that it detains foreigners to obtain leverage over other countries, saying Afghan authorities arrest people for violating laws, not to make a deal.
The U.S. State Department on Monday announced the designation of Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing it of engaging in “hostage diplomacy.” Afghanistan joined Iran as countries singled out by the U.S. in the past two weeks and accused of detaining Americans in hopes of extracting policy concessions.
On Tuesday, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul called that designation “regrettable.”
In July, the Taliban delegation to a U.N.-led meeting in Doha said that Afghans detained at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay should be exchanged for Americans detained in Afghanistan. The ministry on Tuesday described ongoing diplomatic discussions with the U.S. on the matter as constructive. But it underlined that any foreigners detained in Afghanistan had violated Afghan law.
“The government of Afghanistan underscores that no foreign nationals have been detained for purposes of a deal,” the ministry said. “Certain individuals have been detained on charges of violating established laws, and in many instances, they have been released in the normal course following the completion of legal procedures.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday warned Americans not to travel to Afghanistan, saying that the Taliban “continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals.”
“The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions. These despicable tactics need to end,” Rubio said.
Rubio called for the release of two Americans believed to be in Taliban custody: Dennis Coyle, an academic researcher detained in the country since January 2025, and Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and vanished in 2022.
The FBI and Habibi’s family have said they believe Habibi was taken by Taliban forces, but the Taliban has denied holding him.
In September, the Afghan Taliban government freed U.S. citizen Amir Amiri from Afghan prison in a bid to normalize relations with the United States.
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