RAWALPINDI, Jan 15: Security at churches in the federal capital has been moved into top gear in the wake of two bomb explosions in Karachi on Thursday leaving at least 14 people injured, official sources said.

"There is nothing to suggest a specific threat in Islamabad as a result of the attacks in Karachi, however, we have put Islamabad on heightened security alert," a police official told Dawn.

Security personnel in plain clothes have been deployed at churches and night patrolling has been intensified. Besides, extra police have also been deployed around churches and mosques and security elsewhere in the city has been reinforced.

Two churches - one at Taxila and another in Islamabad - had been targeted by the suicide bombers in the recent years. The suicide attack on Islamabad Protestant Church in the Diplomatic Enclave had led to the death of five worshippers.

Meanwhile, the police personnel have also been deployed at churches in Rawalpindi. A source close to the police said the provincial governments and federal capital territory administration had already been directed by the interior ministry to take appropriate security measures for the churches and other sensitive installations.

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