On Tuesday, January 18th, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police recruitment centre in Tikrit city centre. According to preliminary reports, this attack killed at least 50 people and wounded 150 others. The death toll is unusually high for a single suicide bomber operating on foot. This is the first major attack in Iraq since the formation of a new government on December 21st, 2010. The city of Tikrit is located 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
Even if violence has diminished considerably in Iraq since 2006-2007, terrorist attacks led by Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) militants continue day after day.
Terrorist attacks are frequent throughout Iraq. Be aware that most western Embassies advise their citizens against all travel to Iraq, including in Baghdad as conditions remain extremely dangerous throughout the city. Civilians are often targeted by terrorist attacks ; the risk of kidnappings, especially for Westerners, is very high.
