KARACHI, June 14: The US Consulate General was considering shifting its offices to a safer place nearby in anticipation of a terrorist attack.

Confiding to Dawn, a US Consulate official, who did not wish to be named, said that negotiations were already underway to shift its front offices to the area behind the consulate where special banking courts were earlier located.

He disclosed: “We were already expecting such an attack on the building.”

He added that certain security measures had been taken by the consulate for the security of the staff.

“The shifting of the offices was also part of the security measures being taken to meet such an attack,” the official said, adding that it was why there was no loss of life inside the consulate.

Sources said that soon after the blast, armed guards inside the consulate took positions and asked the staffers and visitors to stay calm.

The sources said that besides the collapse of the consulate’s outer wall, the glass door of the reception also smashed. The worst affected was the library, where some people, including women, were present.