Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- An American was abducted Saturday from his home in eastern Pakistan, U.S. Embassy and Pakistani officials told CNN. He has been identified as Warren Weinstein, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez. Rodriguez declined to provide further details. Weinstein is an world-reknowned development expert, with 25 years of experience, according to his company's website. Pakistani authorities gave conflicting accounts of what one described as a brazen, pre-dawn raid. According to Lahore police chief Nayab Haider, eight to 10 gunmen gained access to the residence around 3:15 a.m. local time by overpowering four guards -- described as retired military commandos -- tying them up before abducting Weinstein. He said some of the gunmen forced their way through the front gate, while others scaled the walls around the home. But Tajamal Hussain, a senior police official in Lahore, told CNN the gunmen gained access to Weinstein's home by posing as neighbors offering food ahead of the fast, a traditional practice among Muslims during Ramadan. He said Weinstein had three guards and a driver. When the guards opened the gate to accept the food, Hussain said three suspects entered the house and tied up the three guards, while five other suspects entered the house from the back. The gunmen beat Weinstein's driver and forced him to show them to his room, Hussain said. When Weinstein opened the door of his room, one of the gunmen hit him in the head with a pistol and then forced him out of the house and into a waiting car, Hussain said. Haider said Weinstein worked for JE Austin Associates Inc. According to the company's website, the consulting firm is based in Arlington, Virginia. The site says he was heading what the company described as the "Pakistan Initiative for Strategic Development and Competitiveness." It also says Weinstein is a Fulbright Scholar in Belgium and is proficient in six languages, with a doctorate in international law and economics. Rodriguez said U.S. Embassy officials are working with Pakistani authorities on the issue. The U.S. State Department this week updated a travel advisory for Americans traveling and working in Pakistan, warning that extremist groups operating in the country were continuing to target U.S. and other Western citizens and interests. It cited part of the reason for the advisory as "reported" abductions of U.S. citizens "for ransom or personal reasons," including the kidnapping of a U.S. citizen in Lahore in June. No further details about that incident were released. Abductions are not unusual in Pakistan, though those targeted are typically Pakistani rather than American or Western. In early July, a Swiss couple was grabbed at gunpoint while traveling in the town of Loralai in the volatile southwestern Balochistan province, provincial officials said at the time. Three weeks after their abduction, Pakistani authorities said they believed the couple was still alive. Weinstein's abduction follows another high-profile incident involving an American in Lahore. Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor, was charged with killing two men in January, but was released in March after compensation was paid to their families.