14 killed in attacks on Baghdad polling stations
Three polling stations in Baghdad were struck by explosions that killed at least 14 people Thursday, an apparent attempt to sow fear before elections Sunday that Iraqis hope will stabilize their country after years of bloodshed.
The attacks were launched as security forces and hospital patients cast the first ballots in the parliamentary elections that will choose the next four-year government.
The bombings came a day after similar assaults in the northeastern city of Baqubah that killed more than 30 people.
In the wake of the blasts, streets were quiet in Baghdad, the capital, as tense-looking police officers and soldiers at checkpoints carefully searched cars. Security forces locked down the sites of the explosions.
The first blast Thursday was at a voting center in the primarily Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Hurriya in west Baghdad. The attack killed six people, including a woman and a child, and wounded at least 31. Police said a bomb caused the explosion, while some residents said they believed it was a rocket.
In east Baghdad, a bomber killed four soldiers at a polling center in the Baab Madhim area when an army officer opened fire on him as he tried to enter, according to television news reports.
In the Mansour neighborhood, four soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber set off his explosives near a polling station, according to police officials.
Despite the attacks, people in Baghdad appeared to be determined to vote.
“I am not surprised to hear about these bombings today. We were expecting them and we will witness more violence, I think,” said Rafid Mahmood Qassum, a 38-year-old teacher.
“I don’t know whom to vote for yet. I have not decided, but I will definitely participate.”
Ahmed is a Times staff writer.
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