Islamabad, Oct. 15 (Reuters): A young American man of Pakistani descent has been detained in northwest Pakistan while trying to get into an ethnic Pashtun region near Afghanistan’s border that is off-limits to foreigners, police said.

Police identified the man as Judi Kenan and said he was detained on Monday while trying to enter the Mohmand region from North West Frontier Province.

“He’s a US citizen of Pakistani origin. We detained him at one of our checkposts while he was trying to cross into the Mohmand Agency to meet a friend,” said a senior police officer in the area, Pir Shahab Ali.

“He did have a valid visa and the telephone number of his friend but he did not have permission for the agency nor his friend’s address,” Ali said.

In Washington, state department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed a US citizen had been detained by Pakistani officials and that US diplomats had been given access to him. “We have visited this individual. Consular officers from Islamabad have travelled to the place where he is being held.”