US warns citizens against travel to 23 countries

The United States Department of State has placed 23 countries on its highest-risk travel advisory, Level 4, urging Americans to avoid all travel to these destinations for any reason. In an updated advisory sighted on Saturday from the country’s TravelGov X handle, the department stated that Level 4 is assigned to countries where local conditions are considered dangerous or where the US government’s ability to assist its citizens is limited. “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 in the notice posted on Thursday. It added, “These places are dangerous. Do not go for ANY reason.” The 11 African countries on the Level 4 list are Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Full list of countries under US Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory Afghanistan Belarus Burkina Faso Burma (Myanmar) Central African Republic Chad Democratic Republic of the Congo Haiti Iran Iraq Lebanon Libya Mali Niger North Korea Russia Somalia South Sudan Sudan Syria Uganda Ukraine Yemen The latest advisory comes months after the State Department retained Nigeria at Level 3: Reconsider Travel, while designating several Nigerian states as Level 4: Do Not Travel due to security concerns. Related News UK warns young travellers against accepting ‘free holidays’ from drug gangs FG completes ICAO integration to ease passport checks Nigeria joins global passport directory, ends authentication glitches Level 4 states that U.S. citizens are urged to avoid include, in the North, Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe, and northern Adamawa states. In South-South and South-East are Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states (excluding Port Harcourt). According to the advisory, Americans are urged to reconsider travel to Nigeria because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest and inconsistent healthcare services, while travel to designated Level 4 states is strongly discouraged. Reacting to the tags, the Nigerian government described the US decision as a “routine precaution guided by internal protocols” which does not reflect the country’s situation. Minister of information, Mohammed Idris, said while there are “isolated security challenges” in Nigeria, there is no breakdown of law and order, noting that the country remains stable. Saheed Oyelakin Saheed is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over two years of experience covering metro, technology, sports, politics, and human-interest stories. He focuses on producing clear, engaging reports across diverse beats. Saheed’s work reflects hands-on newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate and balanced journalism.