Osama bin Laden dead: Security tightened around US Embassy in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Security has been tightened around the US embassy here and its consulates in other cities around the country following the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by American forces in Pakistan. "Additional police personnel have been deployed and patrolling has been intensified around the US Embassy after the incident," a senior Delhi Police official said.

The security cover of Israeli establishments across the country, including the Chabad Houses, too, has been enhanced in the wake of bin-Laden’s elimination. The Chabad House in Mumbai, it may be mentioned, was among the installations targeted by the terrorists during the 26/11 strike.

The development comes in the wake of the US issuing a worldwide travel alert for its citizens, especially those living in Pakistan, soon after President Barack Obama announced that bin Laden had been killed. The State Department is putting US embassies on alert and is warning Americans abroad of possible reprisal attacks from al-Qaeda and its affiliates around the world after the killing of the group's leader Laden by American forces in Pakistan.

In a worldwide travel alert released shortly after President Barack Obama late on Sunday announced bin Laden's death in a military operation, the State Department said there was an"enhanced potential for anti-America violence given recent counterterrorism activity in Pakistan."

It said Americans living or traveling abroad, particularly in areas that have been hit by anti-American violence in the past, should limit travel outside their homes and avoid large gatherings. The alert said US embassy operations would continue "to the e xtent possible under the constraints of any evolving security situation."