The United States Embassy in Islamabad advised American citizens against travelling to Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and areas of erstwhile FATA, citing security reasons.
The US embassy released a travel advisory where it warned American visitors in Pakistan from travelling to certain areas. The embassy also warned visitors to keep away from the areas near the Line of Control in Kashmir.
The travel advisory cited security reasons for its warnings, saying that visitors and tourists might get robbed or killed in “terrorist” attacks in the said areas.
It should be noted that the United States had released multiple travel advisories in the past, warning its citizens to refrain from visiting India and Pakistan. The advisories warned US nationals from visiting Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland in India, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, including the erstwhile FATA. The advisories have also repeatedly warned US citizens from travelling to Balochistan.
The recent travel advisory came after two high-ranking officials of the Pakistani security forces were abducted and subsequently killed by the Baloch “pro-independence” groups.
Two weeks earlier, the Baloch Liberation Army, the most active ethnonationalist armed group, picked up two officers of the Pakistani forces. BLA has offered a prisoner swap of the two detainees in exchange for the release of Baloch “political prisoners.” While the Pakistan army officials have not yet responded to the BLA’s offer.