Amid security alert, Israel asks it citizens to leave J-K

Amid the recent security alert in Jammu and Kashmir, Israel on Sunday issued a travel advisory and asked its citizens to leave the state.

"The National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau reiterates the existing travel warnings for Jammu and Kashmir in northern India, given the intensification of terrorist threats there following - inter alia - the call by the leadership of a major local terrorist organization to attack Israelis," said an official statement by Israel Prime Minister's Office.

"Therefore, the NSCCTB calls on Israeli nationals to avoid visiting the area and for those already there to leave at once. Relatives of Israeli tourists in India are requested to pass along this warning," it added.

The travel alert comes after the Indian government asked tourists and Amarnath Yatra pilgrims to immediately curtail their stay after a series of intelligence inputs were received by security agencies over multiple terror attacks on August 2.

The Indian Army had said that Pakistan terrorists are plotting to carry out an attack on the ongoing Amarnath Yatra and that the security forces even recovered a Pakistan Ordnance Factory anti-personnel mine from a terror cache.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia have also issued travel advisories strongly discouraging its citizens from travelling to Jammu and Kashmir.