Three years after he disappeared in Afghanistan, there is a new effort to bring attention to the case of Afghan-American Mahmood Habibi.
The U.S. citizen hasn't been seen or heard from since he was taken into custody by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2022.
The Taliban, though, has said previously that they are holding him.
Habibi works in civil aviation and was employed by a company called the Asia Consultancy Group.
That is a telecommunications company in Kabul that worked on Afghanistan's airport infrastructure – like radar and air traffic control.
The State Department says on August 10, 2022, Habibi was in a vehicle with his driver. That's when they were stopped and taken into custody by the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence, allegedly because they believed he was involved in the U.S. drone strike that killed an Al-Qaeda leader several weeks before.
The FBI says 29 other employees of Habibi's employer were also taken into custody. All but two of those employees were released.
One of the two is Habibi, who no one has seen or heard from since.
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On Friday, supporters of Habibi here in the United States held a news conference about his case.
Also Friday, Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker announced they intend to introduce a resolution in each of their chambers reiterating their call to bring Mahmoud Habibi home.
His wife and young daughter live in California and other members of his family live in New Jersey.
Also this summer – the State Dpartment announced its Rewards for Justice program is offering a $5 million dollar reward for information on Habibi's location and safe return.
