US evacuates its consulate in Lahore over 'specific' terror threats

Ahram Online, AFP, Friday 9 Aug 2013

The decision to evacuate non-essential personnel from the consulate in Lahore comes after US received specific threats targeting it

The US evacuates non-essential personnel from its consulate in Lahore, north of Pakistan, the US foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that the ministry responded to threats it had received specific to the Lahore consulate, citing the "presence of local and foreign terrorist groups in Pakistan."

In spite of buzzing reports of region-wide terror threats planned by al-Qaeda, which led to the closure of 19 embassies in the Middle East,  the spokeswoman for the US embassy in Islamabad said that the evacuation decision was unrelated.

The ministry additionally warned US citizens from making 'unnecessary' visits to Pakistan. 

 

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