US State Department Security Messaging Now Includes Kidnapping Risk

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After an American was kidnapped in Uganda, the U.S. State Department has updated its travel warnings for 35 countries with an indicator that shows the risk of kidnapping or being taken hostage.

Countries deemed high-risk will be labeled with a “K” in order to “communicate more clearly to U.S. citizens the risks of kidnapping and hostage-taking by criminal and terrorist actors around the world,” the department said.

The news comes after Kim Sue Endicott of Southern California was taken, along with her tour guide, and held for ransom during a visit to Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Endicott and her guide were rescued by security forces five days later after her captors were paid a ransom.

The 35 countries on the State Department’s list include:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russian Federation, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine (in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine), Venezuela and Yemen.

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