US pulls out staff in Lahore, warns against Pak travel

The United States, hard on the heels of pulling out embassy staff from several countries in the so-called Muslim world, today ordered all non-essential government personnel to leave its consulate in Lahore, citing security threats.

Except for a small number of emergency personnel, diplomats in Lahore were moved to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

The state department also advised Americans to avoid travel to Pakistan, as violence continued in the country for another day.

A senior state department official said the move was in response to a "credible threat" to the consulate.

US personnel remaining in Lahore should limit non-essential travel within the country, the official said.

"We are undertaking this drawdown due to concerns about credible threat information specific to the US Consulate in Lahore," the official said.

A travel advisory said, "US citizens remaining in Lahore should limit non-essential travel within the country, be aware of their surroundings whether in their residences or moving about, make their own contingency emergency plans.

"The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to US citizens throughout Pakistan."

US officials say it is not clear when the consulate will open again.

The US closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa on Sunday in response to what it said was a threat of a terrorist attack.

Britain has travel warnings in place for Pakistan but these are for specific locations not including Lahore or Islamabad.

''The Department of State ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the US Consulate in Lahore,'' the warning stated.

According to reports, the threat against the consulate in Lahore is related to a broader terror alert that prompted the state department to close 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The withdrawal of personnel and the travel warning came a day after bombers struck a funeral in western Pakistan and a graveyard across the border in Afghanistan, leaving at least 44 people dead on one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar.

The state department's warning noted, ''The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to US citizens throughout Pakistan.''

The heaviest toll in Thursday's violence was inflicted in Quetta, in western Baluchistan Province, where at least 30 people died in a suicide attack at the funeral of a police officer who had been killed just hours earlier.

At the eastern end of the border, in the Afghan province of Nangarhar, a bomb exploded at a graveyard where people had gathered to pay their respects to a slain relative. Fourteen women and children from the same family were killed.

Reporters in Quetta described scenes of chaos and devastation after the attack on the police funeral. At least 21 officers were among the 30 killed, including a deputy chief in charge of field operations, Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal.

Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Quetta attack and said that the group would continue to target police officials, according to local news media reports.

Violence continued in Quetta today, with at least 10 people were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on people coming out of a mosque after offering prayers, rescue workers said. Pakistanis are celebrating the first day of Id al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of holy month of Ramadan, but a vicious wave of violence in recent weeks has cast a pall of gloom over the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attack and police officials speculated that a former provincial minister, who was also present inside the mosque and remained unharmed, could have been the target of the shooting.

The spate of violence has rattled the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has reportedly told interior (home) minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to visit Quetta.

Sharif has also asked Nasir Ali to present the final draft of a much-awaited national counterterrorism strategy on 30 August, according to a New York Times report.