France Advises Citizens to Leave Pakistan for Security Reasons

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - France advised its citizens and companies Thursday to temporarily leave Pakistan, citing “serious threats to French interests” in the South Asian nation.

The move follows violent protests this week across large parts of Pakistan by activists of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), which has been demanding that Islamabad expel the French ambassador over the publishing of anti-Islam cartoons in France. “Due to the serious threats to French interests in Pakistan, French nationals and French companies are advised to temporarily leave the country," France’s embassy said in an email to its estimated 500 citizens in living in Pakistan.   “The departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines,” it said.