Bomb attacks kill 12 as early parliamentary voting begins in Iraq

More than 800,000 Iraqi soldiers, police, hospital staff and prisoners cast their votes in the voting which began early morning on Thursday, as they will not be able to go to the polls on the election day due to work.

Up to 458 polling centers were opened in Iraq's 18 provinces to receive the eligible people, most of whom were from the country's security forces, said Qassim al-Abboudi, a senior official with the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission.

The first attack was a roadside bomb which detonated near a polling center in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of al-Hurriyah, killing five civilians and wounding 22 others. The polling center is ready to be used for Sunday's general elections.

In the afternoon, a suicide bomber struck a bus carrying Iraqi soldiers outside a polling center in Baghdad's western district of Mansour, killing three soldiers and wounding 15 others.

The attacker blew up his explosive belt as the soldiers were leaving the bus to a polling center, according to a police source.

Less than an hour later, another suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at Iraqi soldiers who were lining up at a school polling center in Bab al-Mu'dham area in downtown Baghdad. At least four soldiers were killed and 10 others injured.

The election is regarded crucial for the country's national reconciliation and political process as Iraq has been struggling to improve security situation in the past few years and preparing itself for a planned full withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2011; Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.news.xinhuanet.com for full version.