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The US and UK governments on Sunday warned of a possible attack on their officials at a popular hotel in Pakistan during the festive season.
In an advisory, the US embassy in Islamabad restricted its staff from visiting Marriott Hotel in the Pakistan capital citing security concerns.
The embassy issued the alert, saying that it “is aware of information that unknown individuals are possibly plotting to attack Americans at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad sometime during the holidays”. “Effective immediately, the Embassy in Islamabad is prohibiting all American staff from visiting Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel.”
The embassy also asked its personnel not to undertake non-essential, unofficial travel in Islamabad during the holiday season. “.as Islamabad has been placed on a Red Alert citing security concerns while banning all public gatherings, the embassy is urging all Mission personnel to refrain from non-essential, unofficial travel in Islamabad throughout the holiday season,” the alert stated.
The directive from the US and UK governments comes two days after militants believed to have been on the verge of carrying out a suicide bombing in Islamabad’s government district blew themselves up as police pursued their car, killing one officer.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said the vehicle had been heading for a high-value target in the capital. The car exploded near police headquarters on a main road leading to a government sector where parliament and the offices of senior officials are located.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed the car bombing, saying it was revenge for the killing of one of their leaders. “We take responsibility for the suicide attack against the enemy of Islam,” said a statement from the militants known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of Sunni Islamist and sectarian groups.
Islamabad’s administration has since put the city on high alert, banning public gatherings and processions, even as campaigns are ongoing for upcoming local elections. Police have stepped up patrols and established snap checkpoints to inspect vehicles across the city.
A suicide bombing targeted the capital’s Marriott Hotel in September 2008, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the capital. Attackers drove a dump truck up to the hotel’s gates before detonating it, killing 63 people and wounding over 250 others.
(With agency inputs)
