Islamabad - Authorities enhanced security Friday in
Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, after sounding a security alert in the
wake of renewed terrorist threats, officials said.
The United States embassy temporarily suspended its visa and
consular services 'due to heightened security' with instructions for
US diplomats to avoid unnecessary movement and venturing out in
public.
American citizens could contact the embassy in case of
emergencies, but routine services would resume Monday, an embassy
statement said.
Embassy operations were scaled down only in Islamabad while the US
consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar remained open.
Senior police officials did not give specific details about the
security threats, but the developments coincided with Good Friday, a
major Christian holiday ahead of Easter on Sunday.
Islamabad has been the scene of deadly terrorist strikes in a
recent wave of violence by Islamist militants based in the country's
volatile north-western region.
Eight paramilitary troops were killed last weekend when a lone
suicide bomber struck a makeshift camp on the edge of the capital's
most upmarket neighbourhood.
Authorities said they fear Islamabad could be targeted by militant
groups in commando-style operations - a pattern that was observed in
two attacks carried out in Lahore last month.
The fresh threats followed the arrests of at least four suspected
terrorists in overnight raids, the English-language The News daily
said.
Some private schools, mostly serving Pakistan's elite, also were
closed after receiving warnings from unknown sources, media reports
said.
Additional security was also thrown around Islamabad's already
cordoned-off 'Red Zone,' which houses diplomatic missions and key
government buildings, including parliament.
A senior Taliban commander said Sunday that militants would be
carrying out two bombings every week in revenge for US drone attacks
on Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
'The warnings by militants cannot be ignored,' the Geo News
television channel quoted Pakistani Interior Ministry's top official,
Rehman Malik, as saying.
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