US Diplomats In Pakistan Evacuated After Credible Threat [Breaking]
American diplomats have been evacuated from Pakistan today, after the State Department received what it believes is credible information regarding a possible threat.
US diplomats in Lahore, Pakistan were removed in response to what CNN says several state officials described as a “terrorist threat against the U.S. consulate” in the city.
An “ordered departure” was issued for Americans at the Lahore consulate, and the individuals were taken to the capital of Islamabad, the network says.
Officials say of the evacuation of US diplomats that the government “ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the US Consulate in Lahore,” and the travel warning further stated:
“The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens throughout Pakistan.”
Officials who discussed the evacuation of diplomats from Lahore said that it is too early to say whether the action was related to another travel warning broadly issued to Americans late last week.
The unnamed official explained that intelligence is still being sorted regarding the warnings:
“We are still digging and trying to trace whether it is related… I’m not willing to say it’s related, but can’t say it is unrelated. We just don’t have that level of granularity yet.”
US evacuates most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan, after threat against consulate – @CNNi http://t.co/l5Gzk9aNBv
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) August 9, 2013
No further information about the US consulate evacuation in Pakistan was released, and it is not clear how long the warning will remain in effect.
