The Department of State has warned U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq. Travel within Iraq remains dangerous given the security situation, it said in a Travel Warning update on Wednesday. It has been made clear that the ability of the US Embassy in Baghdad to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens face difficulty, including arrests, is extremely limited.
U.S. citizens in Iraq remain at high risk for kidnapping and terrorist violence, says the Travel Warning.
The US Embassy "highly recommends" that all U.S. citizens in Iraq carefully review the status of their travel documents and any necessary licenses and government authorizations to ensure that they are current and valid. It urged U.S. citizens to immediately correct any deficiencies in their travel documents. U.S. citizens were also strongly advised against traveling throughout the country with deficient or invalid documents.
U.S. citizens have been advised to avoid areas near the Syrian, Turkish, or Iranian borders, which are especially dangerous and not always clearly defined.
The U.S. Embassy also made it clear that its ability to provide consular services to U.S. citizens throughout Iraq, including Baghdad, is particularly limited given the security environment.
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