Posted on 10/19/23
| News Source: CNN
The US State Department on Thursday advised all US citizens worldwide “to exercise increased caution” due to “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, (and) demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.”
The issuance of the worldwide caution alert is a significant message amid protests that have erupted throughout the Middle East in response to the Israel-Hamas war, with many demonstrators targeting US diplomatic compounds.
In the past week, the State Department has raised the Travel Advisory for Lebanon and Israel to the highest level and has authorized non-emergency US government personnel and family members to depart. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a cable to diplomatic posts worldwide ordering them to undertake emergency security reviews, CNN reported Wednesday.
The State Department last issued a worldwide alert in August 2022 in the wake of the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, warning that “supporters of al- Qa’ida, or its affiliated terrorist organizations, may seek to attack U.S. facilities, personnel, or citizens.”
The notice issued Thursday advises US citizens abroad to “stay alert in locations frequented by tourists” and to enroll in the State Department’s “Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive information and alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency overseas.”
Todd Brown, a retired senior State Department official who worked in diplomatic security for more than 30 years, said the potential threat situation around the Israel-Hamas war “surpasses anything I have seen before in the lease with the potential to get even worse.”
“Emotions and the temperature is as high as I can ever imagine it has been,” he told CNN earlier Thursday.