Foreign office advises Pakistanis against travelling to Syria

Citizens already in Syria urged to contact Pakistan Embassy in Damascus for assistance.

ISLAMABAD: In view of the deteriorating security situation in Syria, the Foreign office on Saturday strongly advised all Pakistani citizens, particularly pilgrims from travelling there.

The office also urged citizens already in Syria to contact the Pakistan Embassy in Damascus for assistance at the following contact numbers: 00963-11-6132694/5.

This word of warning comes in as the situation deteriorates in the country with Syrian forces having launched an all-out assault on opposition strongholds in Damascus, after rebels seized crossings on the Iraq and Turkey borders amid a heavy death toll.

Rebel fighters also clashed with troops in several neighbourhoods of Aleppo in what the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said was the fiercest fighting so far in Syria’s second city.