US Warns Citizens Against All Non-Essential Travel to Pak

US says “terrorist groups continue to pose a danger to the US citizens throughout the country”.

The US has warned its citizens against all non-essential travel to Pakistan, given that the country continues to experience significant terrorist violence.

Pakistan continues to experience significant terrorist violence, including sectarian attacks. Several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups continue to pose a danger to the US citizens throughout the country

State Department Travel Warning

Noting that the Pakistan government continues to enforce blasphemy laws, the State Department said religious minority communities have been victims of targeted killings and accusations of blasphemy.

Observing that attacks include armed assaults against heavily-guarded facilities, the State Department said terrorists have also struck universities, schools, rallies, places of worship, and large marketplaces in several Pakistani cities.

Since the beginning of 2016, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and injured 25 others outside a health centre in Quetta, Balochistan; gunmen attacked Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, killing 22 people; and a suicide bomber at a park in Lahore killed more than 70 people and injured more than 340.