Pakistan broadens foreign media curbs to local staff, drawing backlash

Pakistan has imposed further restrictions on foreign media outlets operating in the country, for the first time seeking to routinely control the movement of

Pakistani nationals working for them.



Until the new government restrictions were first circulated widely on Sunday, only foreign citizens working as journalists were routinely subject to controls on movement outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.



Now, Pakistani journalists, fixers and others working for foreign media will need government permission to travel and report outside those three major cities and must register with the government.



Pakistani officials have not said what prompted the new restrictions, which come amid protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and widening insurgencies in the country's western provinces. The guidelines affect all foreign media outlets operating in the country.