Summary To avoid any terror hit on the US Consulate, the facility was evacuated on the occasion of Eid.
Lahore (Dunya News) The US Consulate was evacuated owing to terror threats on the occasion of Eid in Lahore. The evacuation took palce early in the morning at 8 am. The whole building was combed after the evacuation. The law enforcemenr agency also checked the nearby buildings to foil any terror bid on the facility.
Earlier, the State Department has ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, and has warned Americans to defer all non-essential travel to Pakistan after a specific threat to that mission.
In the travel warning issued Thursday night, the State Department advised Americans to defer all nonessential travel to Pakistan.
“The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens throughout Pakistan,” the statement read. “The Government of Pakistan maintains heightened security measures, particularly in the major cities. Threat reporting indicates terrorist groups continue to seek opportunities to attack locations where U.S. citizens and Westerners are known to congregate or visit.”
The personnel drawdown at the Lahore consulate was a precautionary measure and wasn't related to the recent closures of numerous U.S. diplomatic missions in the Muslim world, two U.S. officials told the Associated Press.
The consulate in Lahore was scheduled to be closed for the Eid holiday from Thursday through Sunday and no reopening had been scheduled, one of the officials said.
The officials were not authorized to discuss the order by name and requested anonymity.
A spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Meghan Gregonis, said, "We received information regarding a threat to the consulate. As a precautionary measure, we are undertaking a drawdown of all except emergency personnel."
The U.S. is evacuating staff to Islamabad, said Gregonis. Emergency personnel will stay in Lahore and the embassy officials do not know when the consulate in Lahore will reopen. The U.S. will continue to evaluate the threat reporting.
A spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Meghan Gregonis, said, "We received information regarding a threat to the consulate. As a precautionary measure, we are undertaking a drawdown of all except emergency personnel."
Earlier this week, 19 U.S. diplomatic outposts in 16 countries in the Middle East and Africa were closed to the public through Saturday and nonessential personnel were evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.
Sources tell Fox News that Al Qaeda could be planning attacks on other foreign offices, infrastructure, and organizations in Yemen in addition to the American embassy.
On Monday, a U.S. intelligence source told Fox News that the terror threat that led to the embassy and consulate closures resulted from intercepted communications between the head of Al Qaeda and the leader of its Arabian Peninsula affiliate.
The source said the communications were intercepted between Ayman al-Zawahiri -- who is Usama bin Laden's successor -- and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Asked about the claim earlier this week, officials with the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence would not confirm the details of any such intercepted communications.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been widely considered Al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate for several years.
