State Department orders US citizens to leave Pakistan

The US State Department has ordered families of diplomatic personnel and nonessential workers to leave Pakistan.

It comes less than a week after an attack on a church that killed five people, including two Americans.

Other Americans in the country were encouraged to consider leaving as well in the second such action since September 11.

"The possibility of threats to Americans continues, as demonstrated by the March 17 attack on worshippers at a church service in Islamabad," a State Department travel warning said.

Mark Wentworth, an embassy spokesman in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, would not say how many people were leaving or discuss details of the evacuation, although he said the process had started.

"Non-emergency personnel will be defined on a case-by-case basis, so it's hard to know who is going to go and who is going to stay," Wentworth said. "I suspect it will be like last fall, a very organised departure. The Embassy went through this six months ago."

Pakistani security agencies have been exploring possible al-Qaida links to a wave of terrorist strikes, including the grenade attack on the Protestant International Church on March 17.

The Embassy will continue to provide services to Americans in the country, including those who wish to leave, Wentworth said.