FULL LIST: US warns citizens against travel to 23 countries

What the report says

The Punch reported that the United States Department of State has placed 23 countries under its Level 4 travel advisory, the highest category in its system, warning US citizens not to travel to those destinations. The report, published July 18, said the updated notice was seen on the department’s TravelGov account and described Level 4 as applying where conditions are dangerous or where Washington may have limited capacity to assist Americans.

According to The Punch, 11 African countries are included: Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. The full list also names Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma/Myanmar, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

The advisory matters because Level 4 is the strongest warning in the US travel system and can affect travel planning, consular risk assessments and insurance or organizational security decisions for Americans abroad. Such advisories are not travel bans, but they signal that the US government believes the risks are severe enough to recommend avoiding travel entirely.

The Punch also linked the update to an earlier US advisory on Nigeria, which remains at Level 3, meaning Americans are advised to reconsider travel. The report said several Nigerian states are separately marked Level 4 because of security concerns, including crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest and uneven healthcare access. It added that Nigeria’s information minister, Mohammed Idris, described the US position as a routine precaution based on internal protocols and said the country remains stable despite isolated security challenges.