"It's Pretty Crazy To Be Here": American YouTuber Says He's Stuck In Pakistan
Amid rising tensions between Indian and Pakistan, an American blogger revealed that he is stranded in the neighbouring country but is safe. Taking to Instagram, Drew Binsky shared a video showing locals protesting in the northern parts of Pakistan. He said that he is in a location close to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). He was supposed to fly back to the United States from Islamabad this weekend. However, due to rising tensions between the two countries, airspace for all commercial flights at Pakistan's major airports has been closed, Binsky said.
"I'm stuck in Pakistan right now due to the conflict with India, and all airports are closed. Thanks for all your thoughts and messages - I'm doing okay! I love this country and excited to continue exploring the Northern regions until I can get out. Make peace, not war," the American vlogger wrote in the caption of the post.
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A post shared by Drew Binsky (@drewbinsky)
In the video, Bisky showed visuals of Pakistani locals carrying out a protest. "I'm actually up here in the north, near Kashmir, which is the tense region," he said. "It's pretty crazy to be here right now. I've been receiving thousands of text messages and calls from you guys from reaching out. Thank you so much. I just want to let you know that I am safe. It's a pretty crazy feeling to be stuck in a country where all the borders are closed," he continued.
"People here are pretty unbothered by what's going on. Shops are open... just another day in the life here," Binsky added.
The American vlogger also shared that his plan now is to travel to Kabul by road and catch a flight home from the Afghan capital.
Notably, Binsky's video comes amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. India on Wednesday, under the codename 'Operation Sindoor', unleashed 24 missiles in 25 minutes on nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people. In the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, it foiled Pakistan's attempt to engage a number of military targets across 15 cities in northern and western India using drones and missiles.
On the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, Pakistan's armed forces launched multiple attacks using drones and other munitions along the entire western border, which were "effectively repulsed", the Indian Army said.
The tension between the two countries has affected air travel in India, with 32 airports being closed for civilian flight operations till May 15. Meanwhile, Pakistan has closed its airspace to all traffic, hours after India accused it of using civilian aircraft as shields amid drone attacks.
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