US orders non-emergency consular staff in Karachi, Lahore to leave Pakistan

The US State Department said on Wednesday it had ordered non-emergency personnel from US consulates in the cities of Karachi and Lahore and their families to leave Pakistan due to security concerns.

“The Department of State ordered non-emergency US government employees and the family members of US government personnel from US Consulates Lahore and Karachi to leave Pakistan due to safety risks,” the US Mission in Pakistan said in a statement.

It said there was no change to the status of its embassy in Islamabad.

The advisory noted “an ongoing threat of drone and missile attacks from Iran and significant disruptions to commercial flights” amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

While there is also an additional consulate in Peshawar, the updated travel advisory did not mention anything about it.

Following the onset of hostilities between Iran and the US and Israel since February 28, the State Department has issued similar instructions for its staff in multiple regional countries.

These include Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Oman and recently, Cyprus, as per statements posted on X.

The State Dept has also urged Americans in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE and Yemen to depart from there due to “serious safety risks”.

The instructions for non-emergency consulate personnel to leave Pakistan also came after 11 people were killed and dozens of others were injured when protesters stormed the US Consulate in Karachi on March 1 to protest the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

US Marines opened fire on demonstrators when they breached the compound’s outer wall, according to two US officials, who added that it was unclear whether rounds fired by Marines struck or killed anyone.

Daily security operations at US diplomatic missions are often carried out by private contractors and local forces, and the involvement of Marines in the incident underscores how seriously the consulate viewed the threat.

Sunday’s protests also turned deadly in Islamabad, where three people died as a result of clashes between protesters and law enforcement personnel.

The demonstrators had gathered near the Diplomatic Enclave, which houses the US Embassy, with police resorting to teargas shelling to prevent the crowd from moving forward.

The same day, protesters had also assembled outside the US Consulate in Lahore and attempted to force their way into the building, but police managed to push back the activists protesting the US-Israel attacks on Iran.

In a subsequent travel advisory, the US Mission to Pakistan said the consulate in Peshawar had temporarily suspended operations.

“The US Embassy in Islamabad will continue to provide all routine or emergency consular services for US citizens,” it stated, adding that normal consular operations were to resume there on March 3.

To beef up security, roads leading to the US Consulate in Karachi have been blocked off since Sunday, with a heavy police presence in the area. Similar measures were in place around US missions in Lahore and Islamabad.

Due to the disruptions, the US consulates in Karachi and Lahore had cancelled all appointments for US visas and American Citizen Services.