crime and safety report

Overall reported crime has decreased in 2014, although cases of reported burglaries in the Kathmandu Valley have increased. Minor street crime (pickpocketing, bag snatching) occasionally occurs in popular tourist and trekking areas (Chitwan, Pokhara, the Annapurna region, the Thamel area of Kathmandu). Trekkers have been robbed by small groups of young men, even on popular trails. Harassment against female travelers occasionally occurs. In several reported incidents, tourists have had their belongings stolen from their rooms while they slept. Armed criminal groups are reported to engage in murder, kidnapping, extortion, abuse, and threats of violence, although reports of such activity have decreased since 2012. The majority of these organizations operate in rural areas, particularly in the Terai border region. Though on the surface they may proclaim a political cause, most of these groups are comprised of opportunistic criminal elements. Competing factions in the Terai have clashed with the Maoists, hill-origin Nepalese, police, and each other. No Americans or U.S. Embassy facilities have been directly targeted in recent years.