The United States Department of State has updated its global travel advisory, placing 23 countries under its highest warning level and urging American citizens not to travel to those destinations under any circumstances due to severe security risks or the limited ability of the US government to provide consular assistance.
The advisory, published on Thursday and shared through the department’s TravelGov X account, classifies the affected countries as Level 4: Do Not Travel, the most severe category in the US travel advisory system.
The State Department said Level 4 advisories are issued when local security conditions pose significant dangers to travellers or when the US government’s capacity to assist its citizens is severely restricted.
“We issue Travel Advisories with Levels 1–4. Level 4 means DO NOT TRAVEL. We assign Level 4 based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help Americans there,” the department said.
It further warned: these places are dangerous. Do not go for ANY reason.”
The 23 countries currently under the Level 4 advisory are Afghanistan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Ukraine and Yemen.
Africa accounts for nearly half of the countries on the list, with 11 nations affected. They include Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
The latest update comes months after the State Department retained Nigeria under Level 3: Reconsider Travel, while designating several states across the country under the stricter Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory because of security concerns.
Under the current guidance, Americans are advised against travelling to Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe and northern Adamawa states in northern Nigeria.
In the South-South and South-East, the Level 4 advisory applies to Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo and Rivers states, although Port Harcourt is excluded from the warning.
The State Department said Americans should reconsider travel to Nigeria because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest and inconsistent healthcare services, while travel to the listed Level 4 states is strongly discouraged.
The Nigerian government has, however, rejected the US assessment, insisting that the advisory reflects Washington’s internal risk evaluation procedures rather than an overall assessment of Nigeria’s security situation.
