The number of staff at the Dutch embassy in Pakistan has been sharply reduced because of death threats, foreign minister Stef Blok has told NPO radio.

The embassy is still open and people can still apply for visas but ‘a number of people’ have returned to the Netherlands, Blok said.

‘Unfortunately, threats are being made against Dutch people, Dutch diplomats,’ he said. ‘I have also spoken to my Pakistan colleague about it.’ When pressed, Blok confirmed that embassy staff had been threatened directly.

Last week it emerged that Dutch officials in Islamabad were seeking assurances from Pakistan’s government about the safety of ambassador Ardi Stoios-Braken after he was targeted by Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

Pakistan’s interior ministry said at the time it had expressed concerns about threats made to Stoios-Braken relating to anti-Islam comments on social media by Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV party.

The TLP is also the driving force behind protests about the high court decision to free Pakistan Christian Asia Bibi after she spent eight years in jail on blasphemy charges.

Her lawyer has since fled to the Netherlands.