Terrorist Attack Threat Brings Out Islamabad Security Forces

April 10, 2009— -- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Islamabad today wore a deserted look. There wasn't the usual hustle bustle on the streets. The morning rush hour as schools began wasn't there. It is a city that, increasingly, feels like it's under siege.

Additional security forces are patrolling the capital's streets, performing snap checks of any suspicious vehicles. Frontier Constabulary forces are out in force, with RPG's and sniper rifles, guarding their own installations. The police in Islamabad have brought in horses.

A number of schools have decided to remain closed, and most parents decided not to send children to the few that remained open. Samina Khalid, a teacher and a parent, said that she got a call from the school administration where she works telling her not to come to the office. The school, she was told, had decided to remain closed due to security fears.

Ahmed, a student in an elite Islamabad school, said the administration had decided last Tuesday that the school would remain closed until Sunday for security reasons. "There are all sorts of rumors going around saying how the school will be blown up. It's a scary thought," he said.

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"There is a very clear and real threat of an attack in Islamabad," an intelligence source tells ABC News. At least five suspects have been arrested from various parts of the city, according to security sources, who "intended" to carry out terrorist acts.

The U.S. embassy asked its staff not to come into their offices today. U.K. staff members have been told to limit their travel to essential movement within Islamabad. World Bank and the Asian Development Bank offices were closed today as well.

"There is intelligence that makes us concerned about more bombs going off in Islamabad," says a senior Western diplomat in Islamabad. The intelligence, the diplomat said, came from Western sources as well as Pakistani officials who have told embassies they are worried about certain vehicles entering the city. "It's a question of when you have the next explosion, not if," the diplomat said.