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At least 12 killed, 26 injured in attacks in Iraq

Arab World Materials 4 March 2010 16:35 (UTC +04:00)
At least 12 people were killed and 26 injured Thursday in separate attacks in Iraq, amid a spike in violence ahead of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections.
At least 12 killed, 26 injured in attacks in Iraq

At least 12 people were killed and 26 injured Thursday in separate attacks in Iraq, amid a spike in violence ahead of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections, DPA reported.

Five were killed and 10 injured when a rocket grenade fell near a polling station in al-Horreya area, northwestern Baghdad, a source said.

Earlier, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt near another polling station in Bab al-Moazzam area in central Baghdad killing seven people and injuring 17 more.

In the northern city of Mosul, nine people were injured when unidentified gunmen detonated the house of a candidate, a local police source told the German Press Agency dpa.

Sheikh Nawaf Saud Zayd's house was located in al-Yarmouk area, in western Mosul. "There was no one home when the blast took place, the injured people are the Sheikh's neighbours," added the source.

Thousands of police, soldiers, prisoners and hospitalised Iraqis started casting their votes Thursday in the first day of special voting procedures for the parliamentary elections. General voting is expected to begin Sunday.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi TV reported that police forces arrested a number of suspects allegedly connected to the Baquba blasts that killed more than 33.

Baquba was hit by four bomb blasts on Wednesday, including one targeting ambulances carrying the wounded from the two earlier attacks.

The attacks left at least 33 people killed and 58 injured.

Baquba, some 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, is the capital of Diyala province, which lies on the border with Iran.

The province has been the site of attacks against Iranian pilgrims visiting Iraq, and of an uneasy standoff between Kurdish militias in the north of the province and forces from Iraq's central government in Baghdad.

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