Pakistani guards inspecting a car outside of U.S. Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan K.M. Chaudary/AP
U.S. Pulls Staff from Consulate in Pakistan
Following the closing of nearly more than a dozen embassies, the U.S. pulls non-emergency staff from a consulate in Pakistan. By Defense One Staff
The Obama administration has pulled non-emergency staff from the U.S. consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, but it’s unclear whether the move is related to the same threats that closed more than a dozen embassies and consulates last week.
The State Department is also warning U.S. citizens not to travel to Pakistan.
"The Department of State ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the U.S. consulate in Lahore," the State Department said in a travel warning on its website. The warning said "several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups pose a potential danger to U.S. citizens throughout Pakistan, but a State Department spokeswoman said the threat was specific to Lahore.
Last week, the United States closed several embassies and consulates across the Middle East and North Africa after intercepting a specific threat that al Qaeda was planning attacks against western targets there.
President Obama said he was acting out of an abundance of caution.
"Whenever we see a threat stream that we think is specific enough that we can take some specific precautions within a certain timeframe, then we do so," he said Thursday on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
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