Islamabad: The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad has banned its staff from restaurants and markets in the Pakistani capital for several days ahead of the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death.
“Due to security concerns, the U.S. Embassy has restricted its employees from going to restaurants and markets in Islamabad April 27-May 5,” a warning on the embassy website said Thursday. “We recommend that U.S. citizens in Islamabad during this period take similar precautions.”
The Al Qaeda kingpin was killed in a U.S. Special Forces raid in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2 last year and there are fears militants may mark the one-year anniversary with an attack.
The 9/11 mastermind’s three widows, eight children and a grandchild are still being held in Islamabad after being detained in the Abbottabad raid. They were originally supposed to be deported last week but the move was delayed because legal formalities were not complete.
A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said the warning was issued in response to information about a specific threat. But Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Imtiaz Safdar Warraich said he had no information about a threat.
