On Thursday, July 9, several bomb attacks took place in Bagdad and in the city of Tal Afar in the north of the country (40-mile west of Mosul), killing at least 41 people. The deadliest attack occurred in Tal Afar when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the city centre, near a court handling terrorism cases. According to preliminary reports, at least 34 were killed in those two blasts and 64 wounded. In Baghdad, two separate bombs exploded near a market in the Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City killing at least 7 and wounding 20. Those attacks are the deadliest bombings since the withdrawal of American troops from cities and towns last month.
Although violence has decreased in Iraq since 2007, various armed groups are still able to strike with deadly results. An upsurge of deadly violence has been observed in the country: in May 2009, more than 160 people were killed in a series of blast.
Such violence remains particularly common in the capital city Baghdad and in Mosul. Conditions in Iraq remain highly dangerous. The risk of terrorism directed against foreigners remains extremely high. Be aware that most western Embassies strongly urge their citizens against travel to Iraq.
