World | Pakistan US: Diplomats in Pakistan Must Leave Lahore Move follows threat to consulate By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Aug 9, 2013 5:28 AM CDT Updated Aug 9, 2013 6:49 AM CDT Copied Pakistani Muslims offer prayers at Badshahi mosque on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) The State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Pakistan and evacuated nonessential government personnel from the country's second largest city because of a specific threat to the consulate there, a US official said today. The move was not related to the threat of an al-Qaeda attack that prompted Washington to close temporarily 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa, US officials said. The US is shifting its nonessential staff from the consulate in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the capital, Islamabad, a US embassy rep said. Emergency personnel will stay in Lahore, and embassy officials do not know when the consulate will reopen, she added. Yesterday, the State Department issued a travel warning saying the presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups posed a potential danger to US citizens throughout Pakistan. Islamabad has also been under high alert in recent days because of intelligence received by the Pakistani government that militants were planning attacks on key targets in the city, including the airport and parliament. There was no indication that the militants were planning attacks on US targets in the capital. Read These Next A game of doorbell ditch turns fatal for 11-year-old. Is India, under hefty tariffs, turning away from the US? Giuliani injured in high-speed highway crash. Guy accused of snatching hat from boy at US Open IDed as rich CEO. Report an error