US Designates Afghanistan a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention

Mike Waltz has asked whether it was right for Afghanistan to be given $1 billion in humanitarian aid when the regime denies basic rights to women.

A Taliban soldier stands guard near an anti-aircraft gun while keeping watch for Pakistani airstrikes in the Tere Zayi district of Khost province in Afghanistan on March 2, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on March 9, designated Afghanistan as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention” and declared the country not safe for Americans.

The Taliban regime—which has ruled Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul in Aug. 2021—is currently holding Dennis Coyle, a U.S. academic, and Mahmoud Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman.