US issues terror alert, restricts officials from visiting Islamabad's Marriott Hotel

(Representative image)

The US government on December 25 issued an alert and prohibited its staff from visiting Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital city Islamabad "due to possible attack."

"The U.S. government 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," read a statement issued by the US embassy in Islamabad.

"Furthermore, 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 statement mentioned.

The prohibition alert came two days after a suicide bombing in the capital killed a policeman and wounded ten others. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban later claimed the attack.

Islamabad's administration has since put the city on high alert, banning public gatherings and processions, even as campaigns are ongoing for upcoming elections.

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)