Is Al Mushahidah safe?
Iraq · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Al Mushahidah is a city in Iraq, home to about 814k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,267 of 6,168, with a safety score of 49.2 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 122 · Fire 115 · Police 911
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Iraq, updated 2026-08-28.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country24 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Elevated homicide rate9.46 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 3× the global city median.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Hawi al-Azim area, Diyala12 deaths · 1 event
- Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of Baghdad11 deaths · 2 events
- Amraniyah11 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Al Mushahidah, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Federal Iraq
- Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- The parts of Anbar province which are west of, but not including Ramadi City
- Diyala province except for Baqubah City
- Kirkuk province
- Ninawa province
- Salah al-Din province
- Jurf al-Sakr town in Babil province
- Sadr City, part of Baghdad province
- Within 5km of areas that border Iran in Wasit, Maysan and Basra provinces
- Within 5km of Iraq’s borders with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
- The remainder of Al-Muthanna province
- Al-Qadasiyah province
- The remainder of Anbar province
- Babil province (except Jurf al-Sakr town)
- Baghdad province (except Sadr City)
- The remainder of Basra province, including Highways 1 and 8 and the Safwan-Kuwait border crossing
- Dhi Qar Province
- Karbala Province
- The remainder of Maysan province
- The remainder of Najaf province
- The remainder of Wasit province
- Baqubah City in Diyala province
- The road sections of Highway 34 between Baghdad and Baqubah, and Highway 2 between Baqubah and Erbil
Named in the official UK travel advice for Iraq (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Al Mushahidah.
How safe is Al Mushahidah really?
No published homicide figure exists for Al Mushahidah itself, so the national rate stands in: Iraq recorded 9.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2013 - roughly 3 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Iraq is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 29.8), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
Al Mushahidah also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 277 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 76 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Hawi al-Azim area, Diyala (12 deaths), Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of Baghdad (11 deaths), Amraniyah (11 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Iraq at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-08-28). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 24 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Iraq
Terrorism in Iraq · UK prosecution for terrorism offences · Terrorist kidnap · Protests · Curfews · Crime · Personal ID · Lost and stolen passports · Ramadan · The Arba’-een · Child custody · Journalists · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · +8 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Iraq — country-level, not specific to Al Mushahidah. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 9.5 /100knational rate, 2013 · ~3× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 277within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 29.8country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.695country, 2023
- Income
- $14,290/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 814kurban centre · 3,477/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 27.3 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 31/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 34/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 28/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.51Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 49.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 60%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.0 doctors /1k1.1 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Iraq
- Flood
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 7.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 5.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Iraq as a whole, not Al Mushahidah specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Iraq (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Iraq; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Al Mushahidah that gives 49.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Al Mushahidah compared with Jafar Muhammad Ali
| Measure | Al Mushahidah | Jafar Muhammad Ali | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 49.2 | 49.4 | −0.2 — better for Jafar Muhammad Ali |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 9.5 /100k | 9.5 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 277 | 255 | +22 — better for Jafar Muhammad Ali |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Iraq, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Jafar Muhammad Ali →
Nearby cities
- Jafar Muhammad Ali 49.4
- Qaryat at Taliah 49.4
- Al Khalis 48.5
- Baghdad 50.2
- Baqubah 48.7
- Fallujah 50.8
- Samarra 48.7
- Ramadi 53.6
See Al Mushahidah on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →