UK Issues Travel Advisory Warning Citizens to Avoid Travel to Certain Parts of Pakistan

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for the United Kingdom has released a travel advisory for British nationals to refrain from traveling to certain parts of Pakistan.

An institution that provides advice to British citizens on travel risks has expressly advised the travelers from the UK not to travel to areas near the Pakistan and Afghanistan border. It particularly points out, “The FCDO advises against all travel to within 10 miles of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

Other regions in Pakistan considered as unsafe for travels are parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Here is a breakdown of areas by province/region:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

• Bajaur
• Bannu
• Buner
• Charsadda
• Dera Ismail Khan
• Khyber
• Kohat
• Kurram
• Lakki Marwat
• Lower Dir
• Mohmand
• Orakzai
• Peshawar, including the city of Peshawar
• Swat
• Tank
• North Waziristan
• Upper South Waziristan
• Lower South Waziristan
• The Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas via Battagram, Besham City, Dasu, and Sazin up to the junction with the N15
• The N45 Highway, from the north of the Mardan ring road to the edge of Chitral City

Balochistan:

The FCDO advises against all travel to Balochistan province with the exception of essential travel to the southern coast of Balochistan, which includes areas south of and including the N10 motorway and a section of the N25 from the N10/N25 intersection to the Balochistan-Sindh border, including the port city of Gwadar

AJK:

FCDO warns all travels within 10 miles of the Line of Control, a military control line separating AJK and the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Sindh:

FCDO recommends against all non-essential travel to all areas north of and encompassing the city of Nawabshah in Sindh Province.

Furthermore, the FCDO cautioned UK citizens that their travel insurance might be “invalidated” if they choose to travel against the advisory.

Pakistan has been noticing a huge surge in terrorist activities since the Taliban-led administration came into power in Afghanistan in 2021. Last year saw 586 terror attacks in the country of which 17% were caused by banned terrorist outfits including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Daesh and others.

There were 197 raids conducted against outlaws by security forces with 537-545 casualties. With data obtained from the Annual Security Report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), one can deduce that the previous year recorded 1,524 deaths and 1,463 injuries in the country.