US advises citizens against visiting Pakistan in new travel advisory

WASHINGTON - The United States unveiled a travel advisory on Wednesday urging its citizens to reconsider their plans if they were visiting  Pakistan, citing multiple security-related issues.

The advisory issued by the State Department categorised over a dozen countries in terms of threat level with Pakistan occupying Level 3, the second last level in terms of danger.

"Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism. Some areas have increased risk. Do not travel to Balochistan province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, (FATA) and the Azad Kashmir area due to terrorism and armed conflict," the State Department said.

In its detailed statement, the department also cited reasons and presented statistics as to why the Americans should reconsider their Pakistan tour.

"Over the past six months, there have been at least 40 significant terrorist attacks across Pakistan, resulting in over 225 deaths and 475 wounded, most of which occurred in Balochistan, KPK, and the FATA. In the past, there have been large-scale terrorist attacks resulting in hundreds of casualties," highlighted the federal executive department.

The office also mentioned that the U.S. government was unable to provide any consular services to U.S. citizens from the Consulate General in Peshawar.

It continued that the Americans should also avoid travelling to the Azad Kashmir area as "Indian and Pakistani military forces periodically exchange gun and artillery fire across the LoC."

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/no-more-us-was-foolish-to-give-aid-to-pakistan-says-trump/

The travel advisory comes on the heels of suspension of aid to Pakistan as outlined by President Trump in his first tweet of 2018, alleging that Pakistan responded with deceit and lies against the $33b provided to it, a claim Pakistan rejects both in terms of statistics and observation.

Besides Pakistan, ten war zones and failed states are ranked Level Four with "Do Not Travel" instruction including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The arch-nemesis of world's superpower, North Korea is also in Level Four, with the additional restriction that US law prohibits American travellers from using their passports there, effectively banning visits to the Kim led-state.

Major European allies like Britain, France and Germany are put in Level Two with "exercise increased caution," warning while Uzbekistan got Level One for which the American should "exercise usual precautions."