Entering GBAO / Badakhshan / Pamir Highway forbidden for foreigners?
 

Hi,

Few weeks ago it was reported that foreigners will be soon forbidden to enter Badakhshan area in Tajikistan (Иностранцам запрещен въезд в ГБАО | Новости Таджикистана-ИА «Азия-Плюс») probably due to ISIS activity in Northern Afganistan.

Do you know what is actually the situation there? Any recent experiences?

BB

This statement was issued last week but i know of a group who did crossed from Sary Tash yesterday on motorbikes so must be currently open

Tajikistan bans foreigners from Gorny Badakhshan - Ferghana Information agency, Moscow

Just spoke to another biker who passed today with no issues and also locals say there are many tourist in the Pamir so really i would totally ignore these false news update..............................

If Tajikistan really changes its policy, you will see this first when applying for a GBAO-permit and not if you can pass or not (if you have a GBAO-permit, you have usually no problem in passing). So get your permit as soon as possible at a consulate (e.g. with your visa).

On the other hand you have to be vigilant about the activities at the Afghan border, with the withdrawl of foreign troops the situation seems to deteriorate (there was an incident at Warduj some weeks ago, this is on the main road from Faizabad to Ishkashim, known to be in Taliban hands since some time), you should hope that Sultan Ishkashim stays save.

Hy guys, I drove Pamir two days ago....NO PROBLEM!!!! Talkin with soldiers and people and everybody told me is everything quiet!!!!

Tajikistan cancels decision banning foreigners from visiting Gorno Badakhshan
 

Well it seems Dushanbe pulled issuing visa's for a few days and then started re-issuing them and all other embassy's still issued them during this period anyway

http://news.tj/en/news/tajikistan-ca...rno-badakhshan

The temporary stop on GBAO visas being issues in Dushanbe has now been lifted and its business as usual.

This happened last year and this is why i would totally ignore any updates unless they come from actual tourists who have been sent back at the GBAO border post's or are reporting of GBAO permits not being issued at consulate offices who post on this site here as this it what it is here for, real travel updates from people in the area

As for tourist seeking to travel to the Afghan Badakhshan provinces maybe even if visas are getting issued in Khorog still at the Afghan embassy i would say give it a miss.

But the Tajik authorities believe the prohibition is quite justified. “There are heavy fights taking place between state forces and armed groups Kabul does not control, including the Taliban, in the Afghan provinces that border on Gorny Badakhshan,” a source in the country’s power-wielding bodies told the TASS agency.
The situation on the Afghan side of the border has rapidly deteriorated due to movement of Taliban into the northern provinces. There are battles along the borders in the Badakhshan and Pyanj directions. Sometimes residents in Tajik villages near border can hear gunshots. The protection of the Tajik-Afghan border has been stepped up, army units provide support for Tajik border guards on the second layer of defence.
According to activists in the Afghan part of Badakhshan, militants control nine districts in this northern province. They put the blame on the Afghan government, saying they were too negligent and thus allowed the region to become a centre of concentration of foreign terrorists and extremists. At a press conference in Kabul, they stated that unless the government immediately undertakes effective measures, the other parts of the region would fall into the terrorists’ control.
Foreign mercenaries, too, operate in the northern province of Kunduz that borders on Tajikistan. Members of the Islam State participate in numerous armed conflicts there. According to local authorities, the province has been under attacks of various groups over the last two weeks, primarily by Taliban and the IS. Natives of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and North Caucasus were noticed among foreign fighters.