Pakistan: The US Embassy and British High Commission in Pakistan have warned staff not to visit the Marriott and other hotels in Islamabad amid threats of a terrorist assault in advisories released shortly before Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
Staff from foreign missions have been urged not to visit Pakistan’s capital city for personal reasons, according to the notifications.
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Statement issued from the website of the embassy
The US government is “aware of information that unknown individuals are possibly plotting to attack Americans at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad sometime during the holidays” according to a warning posted on the Embassy website.”
The message further stated that Islamabad has been placed on “red alert,” and that none of the American employees of the Embassy are permitted to enter the hotel “due to worries about security. It advised mission workers to forego any unnecessary, unauthorised travel throughout the holiday season in the city.
Additionally, the UK government issued a security warning that forbade members of the High Commission from going to the Marriot in Islamabad. Additionally, it issued a warning against its employees and nationals travelling to certain regions of Balochistan and the Northwestern regions.
A favourite hangout for diplomats and affluent Pakistanis alike is the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which is a branch of a US-based brand. 53 people were killed at the hotel in September 2008 in a suicide attack that was clearly the work of al-Qaeda or one of its affiliates.
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Warnings come in response to the suicide attack on Friday in Islamabad
The warnings come in response to the suicide attack on Friday in Islamabad, where suspected Pakistani terrorists who were about to carry out a suicide bombing in the government district blew themselves up. Authorities claim of an officer’s death in the attack.
Without providing further specifics, the interior ministry claimed the car was headed for a high-value target in the capital, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed prompt police action had prevented a “bloodbath.” “.
On a major thoroughfare leading to a government district with the parliament and offices of top officials, the automobile had exploded close to the police headquarters.
The car bombing was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who claimed it was retaliation for the death of one of their leaders. “We take responsibility for the suicide attack against the enemy of Islam,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a loose alliance of sectarian and Sunni Islamist organisations, released a statement.
TTP terrorists have been carrying out bombings and suicide assaults for more than ten years in an effort to impose a strict version of Islamic rule on the nation. After calling off a ceasefire mediated by the Afghan Taliban in May, they increased attacks last month.
Periodically, Pakistan’s military has launched offensives in areas along the Afghan border where jihadist insurgents have found refuge.
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