Americans warned against travelling to Lanka

The United States has extended a warning to its citizens against travelling to Sri Lanka, especially to the north and east. The State Department issued a statement on Friday, updating its travel advisory released in April this year. The statment said that although the Sri Lankan government had effectively controlled the eastern part of the country since July 2007, security was not yet assured.

"Some LTTE members and larger numbers of armed paramilitary members are active in the area, leading to instability and incidents of violence. This situation is likely to continue for some time. Americans are particularly warned against travel to LTTE-controlled areas in the north, which may pose severe hazards," the statement said.

The statement also said official travel by U.S. Government personnel to areas north of a line following the highway from Puttalam through Anuradhapura to Polonaruwa, Bibile, and Pottuvil in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka was restricted, and unofficial travel was prohibited.

In March 2007, the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka sustained a minor injury just after a Sri Lankan military helicopter he was traveling in was attacked shortly after landing at a military base in Batticaloa. The Ambassador was not the specific target of the LTTE attack. Although there is no specific indication that American citizens or institutions are targets, there is a general risk of American citizens being victims of violence simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the statement said.