Caution in Mauritania
This item appears on page 17 of the October 2009 issue.
The Department of State recommends travelers use extreme caution in Mauritania, West Africa. This Travel Alert follows a suicide bombing outside the French Embassy on Aug. 8 that injured three people.
The terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed credit, threatened to attack Western targets and has tried to kidnap Westerners for ransom.Â
In June 2009 a US teacher was shot and killed in Nouakchott.
Travel to the Hodh El Charghi region in southeastern Mauritania, the eastern half of the Tagant region of central Mauritania and the Zemmour region of northern Mauritania is strongly discouraged.